Visiting Artist Lecture: Faythe Levine

Faythe Levine is an artist who cherishes all things handmade. She works in a various assortment of media but her biggest and most recent project has been the creation of her film “Handmade Nation.” The film is a tribute to the indy craft movement, what some say is a revolt to consumerism and production. For the film, she interviewed 80 different artists in 15 different cities. She traveled to craft shows across the nation and found artists and businesses that create and sell handmade objects.

The film includes a variety of artists, from Nikki Mclure, the bookbinding specialist who also makes original art pieces from cut paper silhouettes, to Jenny Hart, the edgy owner of “Sublime Stitching” who has transformed the traditional practice of embroidery into a provocative art form. She visited some businesses that sell the artwork of multiple local artists. The artists in her film admit that their work takes time and patience to make, but it is part of the charm. Her film describes how in recent years this appreciation for handmade crafts has gained support as craft fairs like Renegade draw in the public and show how fun crafts can be. What is really interesting is how the commercial industry has tried to harness this fascination by creating things that look “Do It Yourself” or handmade. Some are worried that capitalism could try to swallow it up, much like the way big companies overtook the organic movement.

Aside from the story of her film, Faythe’s own story is also quite compelling. She is an artist and an entrepreneur. She never went to college and took a huge risk with her movie. She calls the expenses of her movie “what would have been my college debt.” She wasn’t able to hire a camera crew or a lighting set, but did everything herself. She set up a blog to document the progression of the movie. She networks and gains support through blogs, twitter, and Facebook. Currently her “Handmade Nation” Facebook page has 7116 fans.

At her presentation to Syracuse University, she gave some tidbits of advice to fellow artists. She said to always document one’s work through photography or blogging. What may not seem important at the time may be important later on. She also stressed the importance of keeping one’s personal life a part of their work. It may sound contrary to typical advice, but as an artist, it is the only way to create genuine artwork. I really appreciate this advice, especially since I sometimes find that the multiple activities in my life conflict with my life as an artist. It really is important to maintain balance in all things.