British artist Debbie Smyth uses hundreds of pins and meters of delicate thread to create mind-blowing art installations.

I’ve seen a lot of impressive artworks made from thread, but young Debbie Smyth is really pushing the envelope with her incredible thread drawings. She’s mixing fine art drawings and textile art, illustration and embroidery, flat and 3D art, to create something totally unique that challenges viewers to ask themselves “how did she do it?”. Debbie starts her sophisticated art installations by plotting out the design with hundreds of thin pins on a white canvas, then moves on to fill it with thread. “On first glance, it can look like a mass of threads but as you get closer sharp lines come into focus, creating a spectacular image. The images are first plotted out before being filled out with the thread, the sharp angles contrasting with the floating ends of the thread.  And despite the complexity of the lengthy process I try to capture a great feeling of energy and spontaneity, and, in some cases, humour” the artist says about her works.

Debbie Smyth first discovered the pin-and-thread technique during her final year at West Wales School of Art, while trying to transform things from 2D to 3D. She was inflating and folding stuff, casting things in resin, and had the chance to experience with this technique as well, but didn’t think much of it until she had to put a show together. That’s when she looked back in her sketchbook and thought this was something she could push a bit further. And so she did…Debbie says hers is actually an old technique, she just made it more contemporary.

via This Is Colossal