I am a textile artist and embroider, a slow-maker in a fast-paced world, a portraitist in the age of selfies.
I look for the chinks in the armors, the unspoken rules and the unexpected tenderness that lurk in the dark corners, then I sew it all up into textile collages on vintage linens.
I started with a cache of vintage linen and synthetic furs that inspired me to create a series of illustrated flash fiction.
Embroidery was a spur-of-moment addition that soon turned into an obsession. It is also a slow, patient type of work that gives me time to figure out the stories behind each portrait. I learned to embroider in the second grade, at a time when little girls were still expected to learn how to make their own clothes. Although I use digital techniques to create collages or produce the layouts for a particular piece, I feel most connected to the handmade part of the work. The repetition of movement, the physical effort, the time spent, are my responses to our culture of achievement and mass-production.
To make an object by hand is an act of kindness - the gift of time and attention. To make a portrait is to witness the miracle of someone's life. My work can be playful, biting or tender but it is always intentional and connected, by a thread, to a very long lineage of female embroiderers. I delight in my work with needle and thread.
I find material an inspiration in the mundane: scraps of fabric, thrift shop marvels, an encounter at the grocery store. I am introverted and patient. Needlework is a patient art that suits my personality.
I am also curious. Always thinking, drawing, reading, taking notes. My studio is piled with ink, paint, brushes, threads, buttons, ceramics, and books. Books, books and more books on embroidering, art, people.
I am always creating. I have drawers and boxes full of art. Each piece carries the spirit of someone I have witnessed.
Each piece of art is a prayer and a blessing to this marvelous life.
