MARCH 27, 2024 GRACE EBERT

“The days keep getting longer.” All images © Peter Frederiksen

Peter Frederiksen pinpoints the most ridiculous, exaggerated moments in cartoons and animated shows to dramatize them further into absurdity.

Chicago-based artist Peter Frederiksen (previously) pinpoints the most ridiculous, exaggerated moments in cartoons and animated shows to dramatize them further into absurdity. Cropping a single outlandish action or event, Frederiksen uses free-motion machine embroidery to stitch stylized compositions that, out of context, emphasize their dark humor.

“Some locks won’t hold”

Recent works include a Looney Tunes-style mishmash of feet and fists that burst through a bulging door in “Some locks won’t hold” and the tongue-in-cheek archery challenge of “Going easy on myself.” Often focusing on escalated tensions, the embroideries accentuate moments of high anxiety in a nostalgic, comforting childhood medium.

Frederiksen has started to switch to digital jacquard weavings for larger pieces. […]

“Interrogation of desire”

More: Peter Frederiksen Dramatizes the Dark Humor of Classic Cartoons in His Cropped Embroideries — Colossal