Portfolio: Ray Materson

by Timothy Cahill, November 30, 2007

The history of embroidery includes complex designs from early Egypt, India, and China, as well as the Bayeux Tapestry, the medieval depiction of the Norman Conquest of 1066. But when Ray Materson took up the art form in the late 1980s, he wasn’t emulating ancient Asians or the historian-seamstresses of the 11th century. He was looking for a way to free his mind from the monotony and horror of prison. A drug addict and alcoholic facing a 15-year sentence for armed robbery (with a toy gun), Materson had surely hit bottom when, in a jolt of inspiration, he made an embroidery hoop from a plastic lid and unraveled the blue and yellow stripes from a tube sock. Without any background in art or needlework, he fashioned the “M” insignia of the University of Michigan and attached it to a baseball hat, to the admiration of his fellow inmates. After an apprenticeship making “commissions” of images like Puerto Rican flags and Harley logos for the other cons, he began to create narrative scenes from imagination and memory. Before long, the work had evolved into an elaborate form of visual memoir.

By the time he was released in 1995, Materson had a national following for his tiny, intricate pictures. He’s exhibited at the prestigious American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore and the American Folk Art Museum in New York. In the nearly two decades since his first stitch, Materson has depicted episodes of violence, abuse, and degradation, as well as scenes of tranquility, joy, and redemption. His work, small enough to fit in your palm, amazes with its precise handwork (thousands of stitches representing more than 40 hours per image), and its inventive pictorial detail. Materson fits a lot into his miniatures, much of it taking place in the background, which he creates with masterful use of perspective. The work’s jewel-like luster comes from the sheen of the sock thread he still uses as his medium. Black-and-white reproduction cannot do it justice.
Materson lives with his children in a small house in Wynantskill, New York, not far from Troy. The wall decorations alternate between posters from New York City galleries and computer-printed self-help devotions: Expect Success in the kitchen; Where is my attention focused? by the front door. His studio is a plastic tray of threads and needles and “wherever I plant myself,” often the green plaid sofa in his living room. The story of Materson’s metamorphosis from criminal to renowned artist is told in his 2002 autobiography, Sins and Needles. An archive of his work can be found at www.raymaterson.com.