Chinese artist’s embroideries of the cosmos and outer space so realistic people think they are photos

Artist has amazed people with her delicately knitted celestial bodies that look just like pictures captured by satellites

Her work using images from modern science and combining them with traditional embroidery techniques has brought her fame via social media

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The Horsehead Nebula by embroidery artist Chen Yinghua whose work is so realistic many people mistake it for actual photos of space. Photo: Chen Yinghua

Published: 2:10pm, 17 May 2021Updated: 2:10pm, 17 May 2021

Sitting in front of a wooden rack in her studio in a quiet town in suburban Suzhou, 48-year-old Chen Yinghua was trying to represent a scene when a dark hole swallows a star — with the help of silk threads and a needle.

The first Chinese artist to turn scenes of outer space into traditional embroideries, Chen has amazed people with her delicately knitted celestial bodies that look just like pictures captured by satellites.

From the Milky Way galaxy to the Leonid meteor shower, the woman, who started embroidering as a means of living when she was only a child, has created 27 cosmos-themed pieces since 2006 — with the first taking over six months to complete.

Chen Yinghua working at her studio in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. Photo: Mandy Zuo

The combination of modern science with the traditional handicraft, which usually features scenic views, people, and animals, has made her an online celebrity after her cosmos-themed works were exhibited at the opening ceremony of China’s Space Day held in Nanjing last month and shared widely on social media.

Born in 1973 in Suzhou, a city in eastern China well-known for the production of silk and traditional embroidery, Chen learned the art form from her mother during childhood, when embroidering machines were still a rarity and most of the local residents made their living from their skills.