STATEMENT OF WORK

As a fourth-generation seamstress, I use the connotations of cloth to call attention to the gendered symbolism encoded in historical imagery. I cull pictures from mass-market history books, print my selections onto fabric, and transform the two-dimensional representations into collaged and sewn three-dimensional forms. Using this methodology as my foundation, I work in series. Past projects have included flags that explore notions of nationalism, referencing the formal elements of the standard but sagging exhaustedly to parody allegiance; stuffed tapestries that feature politicians with absurdly bulging limbs; and drooping textile busts that challenge sanctioned portrayals of authority. My most recent work is a series of editioned photographic portraits created from textile sculptures depicting violent women. In my studio, the concept of "women's work" with cloth continues to be a space of resistance, in which image, materiality, and formal structures work together to explore conventions of power, gender, and historical orthodoxy.