This work is focused on my feminine identity, the gendered-female body, and who I am as a woman in society today. I use myself as the subject making it personal but also empowering and embracing me as a woman. My themes play with the tension of softness in textiles and fibers, reclaiming it in a way, then pairing it with an abrasive or scandalous design. This contrast creates a beautiful mix of ‘comfortable and confrontational’, a phrase I’ve started to label my art as. Recently I picked up tufting and I feel its elevated my work to another level within that comfortable and confrontational spectrum. With my work I want to encourage the conversations about what being a woman is and embracing your body and your womanhood, hopefully inspiring others on my way to reclaim my femininity.
In this body of work I’ve created an alphabet of social and political problems in the United States. Each issue is in a child’s alphabet book format which simplifies the issues into one word and an image to represent that word. The words and images are all hand embroidered onto canvas. Then the backs of each are fabrics or found objects that enhance the feeling of it whether it be for, against, or challenging the issue. Each pillow then becomes unique and specific, meaning the whole pillow embodies that issue.
The issues I address are not so easy to swallow at times. That is why, instead of just making a quilt out of the embroidered pieces I created them into decorative throw-pillow like size pieces. My pieces are intended to be much more than ordinary pillows. They are a platform to start conversations about issues that are difficult to have. These seem like soft, comforting objects but the messages they present are hard and abrasive, confronting the viewer to deal with controversial and unsettling issues. This is why, people can bring them into their homes where they feel the most comfortable, and have a conversation about these difficult issues.
By using techniques that are historically viewed as a feminine craft I’m addressing the stereotype of craft in fine art and the stigma behind what is considered feminine art. Employing sewing and embroidery in my art, I become connected to my work and the subject matter I’m addressing becomes more potent. Embroidery is seen as ‘women's work’ and as a woman using this technique in this setting is empowering and rebellious.
The work “Oppression” was an installation of projected videos onto the walls of the Hexagon Gallery at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. There were four similar videos loops of my eye, close up, black and white, looking into the camera and moving around. The viewers were able to walk freely around the room in order to grasp the feeling I am trying to compose with this installation. This piece transformed the Hexagon Gallery into an intimate exposure of the sensation of being watched.
The purpose for this installation is to create a space for the viewer to receive a sensation of being watched. The idea of this work stemmed from a low-level sexual harassment experience I had. This experience made me realize how oppressed I feel being a woman in this society. The thought which has not always been on my mind but I have noticed when going into certain male dominated establishments and during numerous work and personal related situations. In order to convey my message, I created an environment that portrays the feeling of being watched by projecting four video recordings of my own eye onto the walls of the gallery. The viewers were allowed to walk freely around the room in order to get a better sense of this feeling. In doing this some of the viewers happened to walk through a few projections automatically making them a part of this work. The application of video into this work really drives home the real-life feeling of being watched by a real-life eye. The use of my own eye relates to myself being put in the position of power. I am the predator now. The location of this installation is exactly the demographic I wanted to communicate too, being a University where many students have the ability to relate to this work.
