Lisa Oppenheim (USA, b.1975) --- Leisure Work III 2013
Oppenheim explores labour issues particular to the production of vintage lace in this meticulously detailed photogram. Once a highly prized luxury item lace was traditionally made by aristocratic women – for whom it was a refined accomplishment and a leisurely pursuit - or by nuns and domestic craftswomen, who were paid poorly for their piecework. When lace became mass-produced in the mid-19th century, it lost quality, value and prestige. The market that then emerged for handcrafted vintage lace encouraged the assemblage of large synthetic composites form Fragments of several rare designs, as seen in Oppenheimer’s print.
Lisa Oppenheim (USA, b.1975) --- Leisure Work III 2013
Oppenheim explores labour issues particular to the production of vintage lace in this meticulously detailed photogram. Once a highly prized luxury item lace was traditionally made by aristocratic women – for whom it was a refined accomplishment and a leisurely pursuit - or by nuns and domestic craftswomen, who were paid poorly for their piecework. When lace became mass-produced in the mid-19th century, it lost quality, value and prestige. The market that then emerged for handcrafted vintage lace encouraged the assemblage of large synthetic composites form Fragments of several rare designs, as seen in Oppenheimer’s print.