I make fiber networks through abstract painting, multi-immersion dyework, collage quilting, gesture drawing, free-motion embroidery, and somatic meditation. I use an industrial sewing machine and a giant scroll of fabric. My machine, Lucey, is entirely hand-operated; as I move my body and hold the handlebars of the machine, I draw, paint, quilt, and collage with fabric and thread, leaving trails of stitches behind as maps of my migration patterns.
My favorite materials include silk dupioni, hand-dyed fabrics, hand-painted canvas, wool roving, acrylic paint, thick embroidery threads, and an array of salvaged fabrics and yarns. My textiles are memoirs, time-capsules, and archives. Even in my commercial work, I typically include sentimental fabrics from my soul and personal story. For example, I cut up my old childhood blanket to become part of my Nine Angels piece (shown below).
I experience my work as a “zooming out” of time; a memoir of a pieced-together life. It’s all too big for me to ever see. But I can see what is right in front of me, and I must dance deeply with that moment in all its fleeting fullness. It is a spiritual practice to listen fully to the voice of the moment, to dance deeply with it, and to move on again and again.
I am spiritually commissioned to be an artist. This calling imbues my life’s work with awareness of loss, celebration of beauty, and courage to keep forging into unseen futures.
