Michael-Birch Pierce’s embroidered portrait practice was born from a desire to find authenticity in machine production. Guiding fabric by hand under a standard home sewing machine, each portrait is one-of-a-kind, stitched live, with the subject watching. In a matter of minutes, their face is replicated by a mix of hand craft and technology in one continuous line of thread. Each portrait facilitates an intimate relationship between artist and subject, studying their face, staring into their eyes, tracing every line and curve with a clunky piece of machinery as the conduit. In these moments a conversation is engaged, learning about the subject’s day, their history, and plans for tomorrow. It is this connection that is the crux of the art and performance. The physical result is just an artifact from this moment. The real art lies in those fleeting five minutes where something fantastical is born from something so familiar.

Studies in preciousness and identity. Creating intimate moments with artificial objects. 

Crystal explorations of the scenery, culture, flora, fauna, food, and life changing beauty of the South of France. Created in the SCAD Alumni Atelier over the summer of 2015. 

Hand embroidered "paintings" exploring the inner and outer self, calm and confusion. Exhibited at Quirk Gallery in Spring 2015.