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Han Cao
"Shrine of Democracy" Figurative, Embroidery on Vintage Photo

2025

$500
£375.97
€434.73
CA$705.64
A$765.65
CHF 406.16
MX$9,402.16
NOK 5,022.94
SEK 4,756.71
DKK 3,245.09

About the Item

This piece titled "Shrine of Democracy" is an original piece by Han Cao and is made from hand embroidery on found vintage postcard from the 1960s, with cotton thread. This piece measures 11.25" x 9.25" framed and is shipped in the featured black frame. Threads of Allegiance is a collection of hand-embroidered interventions on found, vintage postcards of iconic American imagery. Through tiny knots, these once-revered symbols erupt, dissolve, or quietly unravel, embodying the tensions between national pride and political disillusionment. The threadwork becomes both a method of adornment and a gesture of undoing—disintegrating symbols that once stood for unity and power, now fragmented by the weight of contemporary realities. Threads of Allegiance invites viewers to consider what holds together and what must come undone. Han Cao is a self-taught artist currently living in Dallas, Texas. She uses embroidery to create new narratives for long-forgotten photographs and postcards found at flea markets and antique shops from around the world. All embroidery on the artwork is done by hand, directly onto the original found image. Her art combines fibers of embroidery thread with the paper fibers of each photograph to connect with the fibers of our own being – as the added dimension of each work challenges our self-identity and personal connection with unfamiliar people and places.

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