As the street art conversation unfolds, the New York Times has turned its eye to Houston-native Magda Sayeg , who began the movement of placing crocheted creations on public objects. A recent Times article crowns Sayeg as the "mother of yarn bombing" in an article about the feminine side of graffiti. The grandma graffiti technique of covering everything from cars and fire hydrants to entire orchards has fairly humble beginnings.
I wanted to add this human quality to my own world. That quality began with a simple door handle covering her former Dunlavy Street retail establishment, Raye.
The Times article details how she knitted a blue and pink cozy for the handle "on a lark," which she calls, to this day, "Alpha. Before long, she had amalgamated other crochet bombers into a crew called Knitta Please. As photographs of the images exploded online, commissions began streaming in, including jobs from Austin's Blanton Museum of Art , a Christmas sweater for a Toyota Prius and s-inspired sock for a Mini Cooper.
The article lists a litany of impressive gigs, but what the Times leaves out is that, before her move to the Texas capital and rise to craft stardom, Sayeg was a catalyst of the Montrose '90s coffeehouse scene. That's what I did my whole twenties. I really put all my creative energy into that. It was really fun β making a carrot cake and selling it to people β that was really cool to me.
Now, Sayeg enlists five assistants who toil on looms in the Austin studio, but the University of St. Thomas alumna insists, "Houston is my hometown, and I'm quite proud of it. I still miss the international cuisine like you wouldn't believe. That's not to say that Sayeg hasn't gotten a taste of international flavors since her rise to the top.
