Endless Paths, 2025, embroidered photograph on varnished and waxed bedsheet, 63 x 73 cm
In The Waves, Michele Landel explores the cyclical nature of identity, memory, and transformation through repeated and mirrored photographs of female figures. Printed on vintage bed linens, the images are grounded in the intimate textures of domestic life. The linens serve as both canvas and context, evoking the histories and routines that shape the body and self.
Each piece is layered with fine, wobbly lines of machine embroidery that ripple across the surface, covering both figure and ground. These stitched marks act as a second rhythm, both mechanized and expressive, suggesting traces of movement, thought, or emotional residue. The result is a series of works where the body is not fixed but fluid—appearing, echoing, dissolving—inviting reflection on the porous boundaries between self, time, and place.