Metallica, Master of Puppets

Embroidery stitched directly through a vinyl record sleeve. 

12x12x2 inches, framed in acrylic.

     This album was released when I was a sophomore in high school. I had already been a huge Metallica fan from their earlier two albums, Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightening were favorites of mine so when this came out I think I listened to it every day for the remainder of my education. Metallica was the first band that brought thrash metal to the mainstream and rock'n'roll was never the same. Their lyrics were unlike anything in the genre. James Hetfield wrote about politics, war, and psychiatric issues. The music was dense and articulated perfectly. They were and still remain the kings of this genre of music. The album cover was amazing as well, it depicted a military graveyard with rows of crosses all attached to a puppet master in the sky. I knew this would be the first Metallica album that I would work on and I had a lot of ideas for it. I started by using a white glitter fabric for the crosses and then stitched all of the grass and details on top of it. The blood red sky was created with multiple layers of wool thread and the puppet strings in metallic silver. The bands logo was created as a patch and affixed to the album once the stitching was all finished.