Fiber artist Sasha Baskin is constructing a bobbin lace image of a screenshot from a recent season of The Bachelor in her home studio. The Center for Visual Arts instructor uses her creations to explore pop culture and reality TV as a modern mythological system.  

“I got into translating pop culture moments as mythological renderings because I was so interested in the ways that we as humans tell these same stories all the time, and the ways mythology has been rendered in fiber for centuries,” says Baskin, who owns lacework made by two of her great-grandmothers.  

“I’m fascinated by The Bachelor; I think it’s psychological torture. I’m fascinated by the way we create these new pop culture gods and goddesses to worship over and over again. They tell us what to wear, what to eat, how to look; whether or not you subscribe to them, they’re all over the place.” 

Bobbin lace is made by braiding or twisting thread wound on bobbins. Pins arranged in a pattern on a soft surface hold the lace in place. Baskin’s project involves almost 100 bobbins.