Notorious B.I.G., Life After Death

Embroidery stitched directly through a vinyl record sleeve. 

12x12x2 inches, framed in acrylic.

     Life after Death was a classic album by The Notorious B.I.G., his second and final album. I remember when this album came out in 1997, everyone knows the rest of the story. Another artist lost early in his career to tragedy, who knows what other music he may have released. I had quite a few requests for this album and artistically was a very difficult one to approach. The album is a sepia toned photograph of him standing beside a hearse. I wanted to embellish the album but also stay true to the tone of the record so I started by stitching all of the background detail in tonal abstract stitches with wool thread and then as an added touch I embroidered his silhouette on top of the existing image in flame orange, I wanted him to appear to float over the background. As a finishing touch I added the album title and his name as patches mounted to the album cover.