What brings you joy? Is it a plant? That tat­too on your arm? A cozy sweater? Embroi­dery artist Giselle Quin­to high­lights the hap­pi­ness of indi­vid­u­al­i­ty in her hand-stitched hoop art por­traits. Com­pris­ing ele­gant black lines that have the flu­id­i­ty of a pen, she accents her com­po­si­tions using col­or and pat­tern. This is often an arti­cle of cloth­ing or a plant that shines a light in the lives of her subjects.

Above all, Giselle’s embroi­dered por­traits fea­ture con­tem­po­rary women who appear solo and engage in their own inter­ests; their joy is their own. This is in keep­ing with the greater con­cept of her stitch­ing. On her web­site, Giselle writes, “Her work brings an anar­chic view to clas­sic embroi­dery, revis­it­ing old tra­di­tions and trans­form­ing it in protest for equal­i­ty, where all have the right to be and live who­ev­er they are.”

Giselle sells her orig­i­nal work through her online shop. Fol­low with her work in progress on Insta­gram.