Embroidered Portraits by Cayce Zavaglia

American artist Cayce Zavaglia creates amazingly layered embroidered portraits that look more like paintings than thread work. From her website:

Initially, working with an established range of wool colors proved frustrating. Unlike painting, I was unable to mix the colors by hand. Progressively, I created a system of sewing the threads in a sequence that would ultimately give the allusion of a certain color or tone. The direction in which the threads were sewn had to mimic the way lines are layered in a drawing to give the allusion of depth, volume, and form. Over time the stitches have become tighter and more complex but ultimately more evocative of flesh, hair, and cloth.

Front and back view

Back view