STATEMENT OF WORK

The elements of fiber art that I am most drawn to are those that I have found to mimic my sexuality. I work with yarn and cotton, creating objects that are reminiscent of home goods and furniture, but refuse to serve a function. I spend time with my work, putting in hours of repetitive labor tying, hooking, and sewing each piece. The hours that go into my work are meditative and give me the time I need to question what identity is and how mine has been, and continues to be, shaped by the environment around me. I have spent the same amount of time laboring over both my work and my identity, carefully making each by hand. Coming into my identity as a dyke has been as painstaking as the work I make. Finding this identity, not just as an out lesbian but as a dyke, is something that I came to understand about myself during the hours I have spent working.

Fiber arts have aspects of the sensory and sensual, the materials I use relate to the body and the bed as that is often the function of fiber in our lives. I make objects that are queering the idea of craft and fiber, making 3 dimensional forms out of rugs and quilts that hang on the wall. There is something about using such familiar materials to explore my own notion of home and domesticity that is endearing. Being able to situate myself in a space and call it home is an element of my life that I have started questioning. At the same time that I have been making this work I have built a home with friends and partners where I have found comfort in my sexuality. I use my practice as a way of meditating on these ideas as it gives me time to consider the roles of sexuality and gender in my life and my work.