Second Piece

"Grand Central Isn't So Grand"
Cotton sheet, solvent transfer, and embroidery thread
18"x17.25"
Fall 2010

First Senior Thesis Piece

"Uprooted"
Cotton sheet and embroidery thread
20"x17.5"
Fall 2010

Artist Statement

My work explores personal narratives about beliefs, experiences, healing and transformation. Heartbreak and my discoveries that came with growing up and out of adolescence triggered depression. I seek to create self-reflective work about struggle and the attempt to heal oneself.

My pieces consist of labor-intensive, hand-embroidered drawings on textiles. The search for materials plays an imperative role in my artistic process. I scour thrift stores and antique shops for torn and stained linens such as handkerchiefs, pillowcases and doilies. On these cloth items, which overtly possess a past, I impose my own history through the use of embroidery. Personal cloths experience a close physical connection with their owner and are the recipients of tears, sweat and mucous. They are often physical documents of sexual encounters, rest and unrest, and are receivers of transposed emotional upset.

Throughout history, needlecrafts were activities traditionally conducted by women for both their functional and decorative properties. Being excluded from partaking in the creation of conventional fine arts, women used needlecrafts as a means of artistic expression. In some cases, the process of making their pieces was also therapeutic. Women could make embroidery about their frustrations because needlecrafts were a socially accepted medium for them. These needlecrafts adorned clothing and household linens such as tablecloths, pillowcases and handkerchiefs. My work draws a direct parallel with this history, as my pursuits are both therapeutic and allow for artistic expression. My pieces are tangible manifestations of my troubles.