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Sheena Liam’s gorgeous embroidered portraits with lifelike, flowing hair

The concept of embroidery might bring to mind an image of a grandma sitting on a comfy chair, carefully creating crocheted blankets and twee cushion covers. But this traditional craft has come a long way in recent years, with a growing number of contemporary artists bringing the age-old practice into a modern space.

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Embroidered portrait of a person with downturned gaze wearing a striped top, with long dark green thread flowing from their head like hair spilling out of a circular hoop frame

One artist taking embroidery to the next level is Sheena Liam, whose original and refreshing take on the technique has cultivated an impressive online following which continues to gain momentum.

Based on photographs of herself, Sheena creates minimalist compositions in her signature dark green thread, which she uses to imitate flowing hair that spills out of the frame. The combination of secure and loose fibres create an almost sculptural aesthetic, as her static figures contrast the dynamic movement of each strand of hair.

A Malaysian born artist and model, Sheena is known for winning Asia´s Next Top Model. As a child, she learnt the basics of embroidery from her mother and found herself revisiting the technique between travelling and modelling.

She is drawn to figurative art and models for many of her own pieces. "In a strange way, modelling parallels my art in the sense I often have to use body language as a means of expressing a certain sort of mood. It's no different from my embroideries."

You can discover more of Sheena's work on Instagram, and her debut solo exhibition, Times New Romance, is on display at Item Gallery, Paris until 27 October.

Embroidered portrait of a woman with eyes closed wearing a light coloured shirt, her long black hair flowing dynamically beyond the circular hoop frame
Embroidery hoop with minimalist line drawing of a figure and dark green thread braided hair flowing from the frame
Embroidered portrait on cream fabric in wooden hoop showing a figure viewed from behind with arms raised, with dark green thread forming flowing hair extending from the head
Embroidered portrait on cream fabric in wooden hoop showing a minimalist figure with dark green thread forming flowing hair that extends beyond the frame
Embroidered portrait of a woman with long dark hair in a striped top, sitting with head tilted, stitched in dark green thread on cream fabric in a wooden hoop
Embroidered portrait of a figure with long dark green hair flowing dramatically across an embroidery hoop, with minimal line work depicting the upper body and face
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