As a fiber installation artist, I use the simple thread as the foundation for my work. Thread is universal. It is used as decoration, protection, self-expression, comfort and survival. Textiles are intimately human. This familiarity is my foundation. In a world ever more vulnerable to an “us vs them” mentality, I use a needle and thread to create a visual language.

 

I create two and three-dimensional life-sized figurative work in the form of non-wearable clothing and panels. I draw, ‘paint’, and sculpt narrative with my sewing machine. I layer line and form with hand-dyed transparent fabrics. I overlap imagery based on memory, personal and collected stories, or global events. The sheer and airy materiality of my chosen fabrics contradicts my often intense subject matter to explore different perspectives on shared experiences.

 

I joyously collaborate with my materials. They bring their own voice to my process and suggest solutions I had not considered. The subtle curve of a thread loosed from its’ thimble compliments my intension. I push the natural elements of light transmission of organza to create a sense of depth. The spread of dye across the fabric’s surface mimics a rivers path in a flood, or drought, in the West. A thread on one layer is forced by natures magnetism to drift to complete the spine of a figure on another layer. One visual element connnects to another, independently bridging the gap between narratives.

 

My work is not simple. In a world where I feel pressure to define, decide, and chose one over another, this or that, either pro or con, I embrace complexity as a full expression of who I am. I am this AND I am that. I am us and I am them.