About

Hello and welcome to NonCompliant Cyborg!

This is a one cyborg shop, owned and operated by me, JA Fields. All of the art prints are created by me and any public domain or creative commons elements are cited in the piece descriptions. Every piece of embroidery in the shop is made by me, and many of the designs are also my original patterns. Some patterns I use are licensed from others, and are clearly marked with their source. This is part of my recognition of the value of citing sources and influences, which I take a step further; In my listings, particularly original designs, I will discuss the experiences and people that led me to them.

My first embroidered jacket

Blue jean jacket with six quilted embroidery panels of sea creatures, including an octopus, rockfish, dragonfish, brittle star, hermit crab, and another green fish.
My embroidery journey started in 2021, stitching quilt panels with my chosen mom on her machines. After she moved further south, I wanted to be able to make things at home and be able to do projects remotely with her. I got my first (and currently only) embroidery machine in September 2022 and got to work. My tabby cat supervises, and much like my chosen mom's cat, steals my work chair given the chance.

My cat stealing my chair

My brown tabby cat, Hagrid, curled up on my blue desk chair next to a cart of embroidery threads and tools

My educational background is in marine science, and I love creating designs for creatures and life stages that I would want to see art for but never or rarely do. While sometimes I branch into creating for better known organisms, I'm most excited about the ones that get zero hits on etsy but excite the people I know who research them. I welcome custom work and commissions, and would love to chat about stitching your favorite species. Please reach out to me via my contact form.

Two of my favorite marine organisms - ctenophores

A pink ctenophore, Beroe, on a black background

Another ctenophore, Pleurobrachia bachei, shown up close so it's beating comb rows are individual colors

In addition to embroidery, I dabble in a number of crafts and art forms. One of my long loves is photography, and more recently scanography.

One of my scanography featuring a butterfly I embroidered from an Anita Goodesign pattern

My poetry also informs and intersects with my other artistic expression. I've been writing poetry as a primary outlet for 13 years, and in 2021 published my first chapbook, Request for Amendment, and started submitting poetry for the first time as an adult. I've found community in disability poetics and cyborg poetics.