Dorte Jensen

From the moment we are born, we are focused on faces. As a psychiatric nurse, Dorte Jensen has had a lifelong fascination with the amazing variety found in people’s faces, and that fascination comes through in her art. Composed of hundreds of minute pieces of fabric, she captures each person’s unique look without the use of paint or ink. Eyes are always the most difficult but also the most important.

It’s difficult to say exactly what makes a good subject. A face can have a particular expression or express a certain mood. If you want to find a good subject, go to an elderly person in your family and take a photo. Old people have their whole life story portrayed on their faces. It is far easier to make a good portrait of someone whose face has history than of a young person who is still an unknown quantity.

I have worked as a nurse for 20 years at various psychiatric wards and am fasci- nated by the fact that there are so many different faces in the world. A face always contains the same components (eyes, nose, mouth, etc.) but there are many differ- ent ways that the individual parts can be composed. All faces are unique. If I stick to portraits, I’ll never run out of subjects.

Sometimes I take photos myself, and sometimes I use other photographers’ pictures. The photos don’t need to be pro- fessional photos. A good, sharp amateur photo is fine. As long as it’s digital, I can use almost any photo.

If you find a photo taken by another person that you want to use, it’s very important to get the photographer’s per- mission. Send an email and explain who you are and what you intend to do with it. Ask kindly. I’ve done this several times and I’ve never been refused.

I have sewn ever since I was a little girl, beginning with doll clothes on my grandma’s sewing machine when I was only four years old. For me, it’s important

left: Mother and Child 31 x 39 inches, 2015 top right: Abraham Lincoln 24 x 24 inches, 2015 right: Benjamin Franklin 24 x 24 inches, 2015

that everything on my pictures is sewn. It would be easy to get the right color by painting or drawing, but I like the challenge of finding exactly the right piece of fabric in the right color.

When people see my pictures, they often assume that they’re “just” paintings. I often have to ask them to take a second look to see that they really are stitched. When they learn that, they’re always more fascinated than they were at first.

I consider each new picture a separate project, and I don’t work in series. I try out different color combinations when I make my patterns. Sometimes I feel more inclined to make realistic portraits, and sometimes I want to give a little more zest to my work so I change the colors. I work for my own pleasure, so everything depends on how I feel on a particular day.

I start with a digital photo that I manipulate in Photoshop Elements. During this part of the process, I decide on the colors, size, and level of detail. When the pattern is ready, I print it out.

I put the paper pattern on a light table, put Vlieseline interfacing over it, and trace the pattern onto the Vlieseline. I then iron a piece of background fabric to the Vlieseline. This is how I create a “canvas” with the pattern on the back.

Next I use fusible Vliesofix to transfer the single pieces of the pattern to the fabric that I use for creating the portrait. I cut out each of the shapes,

take off the paper, and iron the pieces I have cut onto the background fabric. I set my sewing machine to a narrow zigzag stitch and sew down each of the individual pieces layer by layer.

I love to create the eyes, but this is the most difficult part of the portrait process. The most boring part is cutting out all those tiny pieces of fabric. I don’t think I have one single favorite, but some of the pictures shown here are definitely among my favorites. Usually I think that my latest picture is the best one!

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(left) Town is calling 31 x 31 inches, 2014 (right) Green Man 31 x 31 inches, 2013 (below) Out of The Dark 31 x 59 inches, 2015