Many of the textiles in this new body of work begin with fabric that is designed and digitally printed from my original photographs or monotypes. Works may incorporate earth pigmented fabric, antique and contemporary cloth, and objects. “The language of quilts” unites these works; they are composed of three layers quilted and bound on the edges. Pillow-like “bellies” suggest comfort, nurture, and connection. The five works entitled Genetic Material are works-in-progress intended to be shown as a group.
Bound Landscape, 65” x 65” x 3” Digitally printed fabric from original monotype, ribbon binding, thread gathering and stitching, oak, 2023. The work references landscape, both terrestrial and psychological.
Bed of Stones, 41” x 41” x 2.5” digitally printed fabric, ticking, embroidery, down, 2023. The pronounced dimensional aspects of this "quilt" invite consideration of both physical and implied space, 2023.
A Virtuous Woman V, Sixty four found and embroidered potholders, wood, safety pins, brass hooks, 45" x 48", 2003/remade 2023. This quilt is part of a series of works meant to critique the Proverbs 31 view of women in evangelical Christian communities. Conflating the domains of kitchen and bedroom, the plants depicted are used for easing the discomforts of menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause. In 2023, I updated this quilt, adding hand cut silhouettes and copious embroidery stitches, with a eye to inclusion and the awareness that women everywhere experience this kind of marginalization.
A Virtuous Woman V, detail
A Virtuous Woman V, detail
Carolina Mud Quilt, fabric designed and printed from original photographs of mud flow following torrential rain, earth pigments, thread, batting, found object, wood, 2023
Carolina Mud Quilt 2, fabric designed and printed from original photographs of mud flow following torrential rain, earth pigments, ticking, thread, fiberfill, wood, 2023
Carolina Mud Quilt 3, fabric designed and printed from original photographs of mud flow following torrential rain, earth pigments, found fabric, buttons, thread, batting, wood, 2023
Installation view: Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, 2022
Carolina Mud Quilt (Spring Garden), 15" x 21" x 21" fabric designed and printed from original photographs of mud flow following torrential rain, earth pigments, embroidery thread, wood, 2023
All the Rivers Run Into the Sea, 32" x 32" x 3", fabric designed and printed from original photographs of sea life and death, thread, batting and fiberfill, wood, 2023.
Knoxville: Summer of 1963, 39" x 42" x 5", antique blue ticking, embroidery, bedsheet, gems & sequins, thread, red ticking, strapping, wood Referencing James Agee's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, this work recalls my childhood in Knoxville with parents, grandparents, and great-grand parents, sitting on a quilt in the backyard as stars and lightning bugs emerge, 2023.
Genetic Material (Progenitor), 41" x 38" x 3", fabrics designed and printed from original photographs of mud flow following torrential rain, earth pigments, found fabric, thread, fiberfill, wood, 2023 In 2019, just prior to the onset of the pandemic, I was invited to participate in a project with researchers from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. As Covid set in the project fizzled—as researchers were called to turn their expertise toward the crisis. This opportunity, nonetheless, inspired me to make a group of quilt-based works I call Genetic Material. This "family" of sculptural quilts reference genetic traits passed through generations. The work also acts a meditation on being present in the face of change and uncertainty--with the quilt as an element of comfort, tenderness, love, and ancestral connection.
Genetic Material 2, 30" x 27" x 4", fabrics designed and printed from original photographs of mud flow following torrential rain, earth pigment dye, found fabric, thread, fiberfill, wood, 2023
Genetic Material 3, 24" x 20.5" x 3" fabrics designed and printed from original photographs of mud flow following torrential rain, earth pigments, found fabric, thread, fiberfill, wood, 2023
Genetic Material 4 (twins), 18" x 27" x 2", earth pigments, found and antique fabric, thread, fiberfill, wood, 2023
Genetic Material 5, 24"x 24"x 2.5", earth pigments, found and antique fabric, thread, fiberfill, wood, 2023