Ellen Schinderman is an autodidactic artist who uses stitching as a way of seeing things anew. Schinderman grew up surrounded by decorative and home arts, so it makes sense for her to combine her work’s intent with the beauty and tradition of the function and the form that precedes it. As both an artist and feminist, the reclaiming of needle and thread fascinates Schinderman. Her work comes from a need to celebrate women, femininity, and sexuality in all its many shades and aspects. Using images of women that are often intended for a male audience, Schinderman recontextualizes them by highlighting women as beings that feel and think rather than objects that only arouse, pointing out the disconnection between society’s desire for women’s bodies, but not their minds.
Schinderman has also been known to make some pop culture work, when the mood strikes her.