We Are A Couple Creating Unconventional Works "Painted" Only With Sewing Thread (36 Pics)

To design the paintings, we use our own methods and proprietary digital tools developed from the ground up by Dariusz. It took nearly two years of work to consider ourselves ready to lay our artwork before the public.

Our string works can be defined as contemporary art on the borderline of new media and algorithmic art. To create it, we use a little-known technique called photorealistic and colorful string art. The lack of available know-how and ready-to-use tools, and the consequent need to develop one's own methods make this kind of string art a demanding and labor-intensive technique that only a few artists in the world have mastered.

The need for creative work was one of the things that brought us to each other over 15 years ago and got us where we are now. Since art has always held a special place in our hearts and minds, we have long sought our niche in the art field. Until three and a half years ago, we found that special thing that we both felt was missing in our lives. So, our art adventure started over three years ago, with the pandemic time. The Covid lockdown and all the stay-at-home orders turned out to be a turning point for us. It was a chance to change our lives, start a new chapter focused on passion, and make it a serious, at least part-time job.

At the same time, we heard for the first time about this unique artistic technique. As it was a combination of modern technologies with an unconventional approach to contemporary art, it immediately stole our hearts. We questioned ourselves whether we would be capable of creating this cerebral and tough kind of art. The task proved to be really ambitious, but the more demanding the challenge, the more Dariusz (who is, among other things, a software developer) wanted to take it on. So, it took long months to develop creative methods, but finally, Dariusz provided us with the very first version of our working tool: software to design works of art created only by means of miles of intersecting threads. 

An interesting feature of this innovative technique is the unusual way in which the viewer perceives the image. The more distance one looks at the picture, the more details one sees. The distance makes the shape emerge more and more clearly from the seeming chaos of crossing threads.

It’s a relatively new artistic technique and there are no sources of knowledge, no ready-to-use tools, and they do not teach it anywhere. The need to develop all the know-how yourself, from the ground up made the first two years the most difficult part for us. We developed our skills, learned by trial and error, and created the proprietary software we use to design our artworks. Today, it's been more than three and a half years since we started working with this special technique. Now we can focus more on creating images as such, rather than on developing methods and building ourselves working tools. However, we are constantly improving our skills and honing our techniques.

How long it takes for us to create one fully finished "painting" is one of the most frequently asked questions we get. There is no single answer, it all depends on the actual thread painting. Usually creating a thread painting takes a few days up to around two weeks.

While the intricate winding of miles of thread may seem like the most labor-intensive and time-consuming part of our work, it’s usually not. We often find that the first stage of creating the thread painting, which is "drawing" the digital design of the artwork, consumes most of the working time. Creating a design of a painting involves precisely planning the placement of every centimeter of miles of thread. Among other things, we adjust the types and colors of threads we are going to use, set the order of the threads, and plan each of the dozens of layers arranged in the right order. This continues until the end result meets our expectations. Only when we are satisfied with the design can we begin the second, easier stage of the work, which is winding the threads onto the nails according to the plan. It’s a time-consuming technique, but practice makes perfect, and over time one becomes more proficient.