As I watched the needle pass in and out of my eye, I knew my perception, and therefore my art, would be changed forever. A donated cornea not only restored my sight, but upended my philosophy regarding the division between the corporeal and the tangible, and by extension, representation and abstraction. The experience of receiving this gift of sight from another human has changed my outlook irreversibly. I am forever grateful that someone decided to donate their eyes so that another can see, but the experience has also had a profound effect on the way I represent my reality in my art: I now experience my body as so much more a part of the whole of humanity. I wanted a way to convey this convergence of the corporeal and the universal, and I found it through combining traditional stitching techniques and oil painting. By using embroidery, I literally pierce the divide between an abstract realm and the figure. The media was chosen to both celebrate the Kitsugi-like healing act of mending, and to blur the line between art and craft, between perception and reality, and between the individual and the collective.

Tammy Flynn Seybold

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I am a painter who studied Art, History of Art and Chemistry at UC Berkeley, and obtained my Masters in Art Conservation from Queens University. My work in museums around the world - including SFMOMA and the National Gallery of Art in Washington - informs my painting practice, and drives me to work in both traditional and non-traditional media and methods. I am from California, but have lived and worked in France, Toronto and Hong Kong. I currently call Vancouver, Canada my home, and when I'm not in my studio, I can be found in the mountains or in the sea.