The work of Woodstock, New York-based artist Devorah Sperber is meant to play tricks on you. Using multi-colored spools of thread, she deconstructs familiar images (from pop culture icons like Superman to famous works of art like the Mona Lisa) into what looks like a messy mosaic — until viewed through a clear, acrylic ball set on a pedestal directly in front of the canvas. “At that point there’s a real jolt when your brain has to make an adjustment from what you thought was there to what is there, and the word associated with that jolt is ‘Wow,'” Sperber recently told the American Museum of Natural History’s Rotunda Magazine. “The idea is to directly engage the viewer so they are having an experience of their own brain in action.” Click through to check out a gallery of her work.
Devorah Sperber, After Vermeer 2, 2006. 5,024 spools of thread. [via My Modern Met]
Devorah Sperber, After van Gogh (Self Portrait), 2008. 408 spools of thread. [via My Modern Met]
Devorah Sperber, Superman, 2010. 690 larger spools of thread. [via My Modern Met]
Devorah Sperber, After Grant Wood (American Gothic) 3, 2010. 4,392 spools of thread. [via My Modern Met]
Devorah Sperber, After Renoir, 2006. 5,024 spools of thread. [via My Modern Met]
Devorah Sperber, After The Last Supper, 2005. 20,736 spools of thread. [via My Modern Met]
Devorah Sperber, After The Mona Lisa 2, 2005. 5,184 spools of thread. [via My Modern Met]
Devorah Sperber, After van Eyck, 2006. 5,024 spools of thread. [via My Modern Met]
Devorah Sperber, Woodstock, 2010. 308 larger spools of thread. [via My Modern Met]
Devorah Sperber [via My Modern Met]