Cyndi Lauper, She's So Unusual

Embroidery stitched directly through a vinyl record sleeve.

12x12x2 inches, framed in acrylic.

     She’s so unusual was Cyndi Lauper’s debut album that was released in 1983. It contained four hit singles, won two Grammys, and sold over 16,000,000 copies worldwide. I grew up with two younger sisters who were fanatical about this album when it was released. I must have listened to Girls Just Want to Have Fun on repeat for two years straight. The album features Cyndi wearing what at the time would be considered an Avant-garde outfit dancing in front of a closed wax museum in Coney Island N.Y. The photograph was taken by Annie Lebovitz and is an amazingly composed shot. I used a technique for this album that I had previously used on the Beatles Abbey Road. I stitched the background of the album using multiple layers of wool thread stitched in free motion style, the style softens and blurs the background in warm textures. Cyndi and her shoes were created as a cartoon patch in bright colors and bold outlines. I love how she becomes a juxtaposition of color over the soft background. The logo as well as the album title were also created as patches and mounted onto the background as a final step.