Spotlight: Mashanda Lazarus, Textile Artist

Mashanda Lazarus uses a mix of art and craft techniques to create realistic 3D fiber art pieces. She finds inspiration in the overlooked beauty in the things around her. Look carefully at the small details in all of her work.

How did you find yourself on an artist’s path? Always there? Lightbulb moment? Dragged kicking and screaming? Evolving?

I was taught to draw, sew and create arts and crafts at a very young age by several artistic family members. I began my career at age 9 helping my mom with her various odd art jobs (painting holiday scenes on shop windows, t-shirt, menu, and brochure designs). I also considered careers in entomology and anthropology, but the odd art jobs kept coming and I eventually chose to attend ArtCenter College of Design for Illustration.

My work since then has largely focused on textiles in various ways: I do textile design for Alexander Henry Fabrics, taught in the Surface Design program at ArtCenter, of course, create soft sculptures, and make or customize clothing and goods with embroidery and quilting. 

What do you do differently? What is your signature that makes your work stand out as yours?

I use a mix of art and craft techniques to make incredibly detailed work. Although my pieces are fiber art, I often use traditional painting techniques and even sculpt with acrylic paint. 

Does your work have stories to tell?

Yes, I consider my pieces to be 3D portraits of specific objects. For instance, I traded an accordion for the bass as a teenager, my uncle left the amp at my house, the typewriter belonged to my ex husband’s grandad. I replicate the unique scrapes, paint splatters, stickers and marks that each object has acquired in its lifetime. 

Where do you find inspiration for your dimensional textile pieces?

I was raised with the belief that things are important, should be cherished, and carry memory, so typically I’m just inspired by the (often overlooked) beauty in the things around me.

Sometimes there’s an element of guilt, feeling the need to hang onto something past its usefulness, but when I recreate it in this way, it becomes easier to discard because I’ve now adequately used it. 

Do you plan your work out ahead of time, or do you just dive in with your materials and start playing?

I do a lot of planning but most of it happens in my head. I usually have a pretty good idea as to how the whole thing will come together before I start, but many of the details I work out as I go. I often daydream or fall asleep picturing how to build or attach some piece or which paint or material to use.

What is the most unusual material you’ve used in creating a piece?

I used eyeshadow to recreate a holographic sticker on my latest stereo sculpture. A lot of the materials I use are special things that I or someone else has had for a long time.

I used ribbon my mom bought for my hair as a child as the tape in my recent cassette tape sculpture. I’ve received gifts of vintage fabric samples, old beads, trim, all sorts of goodies from friends and family or from people who inherited collections from relatives that they didn’t need. 

I’ve had to downsize my workspace to one big Ikea desk half covered with a large cutting mat three feet from my bed. I have some storage under my desk for all of my materials, including little drawers of buttons, thread, ribbons, acrylic paint, brushes, adhesive, beads and have fabric stored in bins under my bed.

Although it’s very easy to get to work, I dream of once again having a large separate studio where I can create large scale pieces. 

How often do you start a new project? Do you work actively on more than one project at a time?

I’m constantly cycling through new and old projects, typically working on 2-3 projects at a time with maybe 10-20 unfinished or unstarted projects on my mind.

I usually have one or two commissions, freelance projects, or works for an upcoming show that get first priority because they have a deadline.

I have a lot of partially finished customized clothes and illustrations that I’ve nearly abandoned, but I wouldn’t say I’ve completely given up on them. I will pick up a project months or years later and finish it.

I’ve been slowly hand embroidering the quilt on my bed since 2015, sometimes stitching a block a day for several days until my hands ache, but I’ve also gone years without working on it. Knowing a queen-sized hand-sewn quilt would take forever, I sewed the edges together so that it could be used in an unfinished state. 

Can you tell us about the inspiration and process of one of your works? How does a new work come about?

I was commissioned to make a plush vintage television for USC Dornsife Magazine, which was a lot of fun, but fairly simple because of the boxy design and basic knobs.

After that I thought that I’d like to try to recreate a modern monitor, knowing the smooth molded plastic design would be more of a challenge to build. I was thinking this over while driving home when I saw the perfect monitor on the side of the road. I pulled over and loaded it up and then it sat in my garage for maybe a year while I psyched myself up to finally start recreating it. 

Which part of the design process is your favorite? Which part is a challenge for you?

My favorite part is choosing which materials to use. I hoard a lot of fabric and supplies and it’s always a thrill to realize I’ll be able to finally use something.

The pattern making can also be fun, I usually use tracing paper and rub colored pencil over the edges or anything embossed in the object. Because I’m figuring out how I’m going to make some parts as I go, which materials I’ll use and how to sew the pieces together and in which order, a big part of my work is tackling the anxiety that comes with not always knowing how I’m going to do what I’m doing.   

Is there an overarching theme that connects all of your work?

I’m always thinking about the things we acquire and how we use them, and hopefully presenting that and using my things in a way that is fun and whimsical but also with a level of care and detail that conveys my sentiment. 

How does your environment influence your creativity?

I tend to find inspiration everywhere I look. I get really into the details of everything, whether it’s bugs or flowers or paint peeling to reveal other colors, the text on the side of a box. I always pass this rusted old car on my walks, but the sea green paint and the rust are so beautiful to me, the way the foam in the back seat is bursting through the leather, I would love to make a sculpture of a car like that. 

Has your work changed and evolved over time? What influenced the shift?

I’ve taken on more complex pieces and integrated techniques such as embroidery because I’m fortunate enough to have more time available to devote to my work.

Do you prefer the kind of project that is challenging and requires attention, or the kind where you get in your meditative zone and enjoy the process?

My work is both. I’ve always enjoyed challenging fun like Lego, jigsaw puzzles, cross stitch, etc. so I’m most in the zone doing things that others have said must require a lot of patience.

There are always times during the meditative repetition of sewing where I get so in the zone that I forget that I’m working.

What do you do to keep yourself motivated and interested in your work? 

I’ve finally reached that point where I usually really love my work when it’s done. I’m rather hard on myself, so it’s nice to have one area where I feel confident and competent and more open to inspiration.

I love showing my work and would love to do more installations with multiple pieces, so I always feel like there’s more to make. 

Where can people see your work?

ilovemashanda.com or @MashandaLazarusArt on instagram