Needle and thread at Jack Fischer

The Jack Fischer Gallery consistently shows work that is so highly skilled and original that it's impossible for me to walk past his tiny space without getting sucked in. That's what happened Thursday evening when I was on my way to another gallery on the 4th floor of 49 Geary.

I saw the hand stitched images by Lauren DiCioccio and Aliza Lelah from the hall, but I didn't realize what they were - they looked like drawings and paintings at first.

Aliza Lelah's isolated figures are photo-based "paintings" derived from found photographs. She writes on her web site that her pigment is recycled fabric and her binding medium is stitching.

Lauren Dicioccio's "drawings" are also photo-based, derived from mass-produced images in newspapers, magazines, plastic bags, and 35 mm slides. The excess threads dangle from the surface, much like the drips in graffiti painting.

Their work is perfect together. The show is up for the rest of this week.

Lauren DiCioccio and Aliza Lelah
through August 16th at Jack Fischer Gallery
49 Geary, #440, San Francisco