In Nest Series I have collected abandoned nests and photographed them in groups. I then alter that photograph and digitize it in embroidery software. I then embroider them image on an embroidery machine. Each stage of this process removes the nest image from its original source and distorts it, sometimes to the point of being unrecognizable. I find this metaphor appropriate when examining the social construct of the domestic.
These works deal with domestic labor and service. While the volume of grocery bags does reveal the level of consumption- both in terms of food eaten and waste produced- the needlework techniques used in these works recall traditional domestic labor. I have used the knot form to relate to the expression 'tying the knot'. These works conflate domestic service past and present.
These lists are personal handwritten grocery lists and weekly menus. I like the connection between the grocery list and embroidery in terms of domestic labor. The act of compiling a grocery list is a necessary and incredibly strategic task. Four people each with their own likes and dislikes, food allergies, nutritional needs x three meals per day + snacks and don't forget the pets, cleaning supplies, toilet paper etc and all of this has to fit within a budget. These works are machine embroidered. The machine has to create jump stitches in order to embroider in the most efficient way. I leave the jump stitches in some of my pieces to highlight this efficiency and to relate it back to the decision making process.
Because of the transient nature of all of the acts that lead up to the list and follow from it, one can neglect to see the immense amount of care, service and effort related to this domestic task. I am not only elevating the lists to the status of art object but making concrete this facet of domestic service.
Because of the transient nature of all of the acts that lead up to the list and follow from it, one can neglect to see the immense amount of care, service and effort related to this domestic task. I am not only elevating the lists to the status of art object but making concrete this facet of domestic service.
The works above are knitted tubes with nursery rhymes embroidered onto them. Here I am using the knot to express tension but softening it with the use of yarn. This combination of tension and softness also applies to the passages of nursery rhymes chosen. Each of the passages reveals some truth about loneliness, anxiety, or conflict that upends notions of quaintness within the domestic realm.
This group of works express sometimes painful truths about domestic life. Through the lens of humor these works reassign meaning to kitsch knickknacks. Using DIY wedding centerpiece design, these works upend fairytale fantasies of marital and parental life.
In my work I am examining Nature/Culture dualism manifested in contemporary material culture through domestic objects. I’m surprised by how many things around me (furniture, textiles, wall coverings, etc.) reference something natural but how there isn’t anything one would consider ‘Nature’. It is evident that traces of the natural are all around us but it is mediated through man-made things. It is as if Nature has been co-opted, commoditized, and grafted into what defines the domestic realm.
The domestic realm and Nature have traditionally been associated with the feminine. My work examines the parallel between bucolic representations of nature and traditional notions of femininity. I question how these two constructs influence perceptions of and tensions within the domestic sphere. I use floral fabrics and embroidery to subvert the traditional associations of femininity and challenge the ‘quaintness’ within the domestic realm.
The domestic realm and Nature have traditionally been associated with the feminine. My work examines the parallel between bucolic representations of nature and traditional notions of femininity. I question how these two constructs influence perceptions of and tensions within the domestic sphere. I use floral fabrics and embroidery to subvert the traditional associations of femininity and challenge the ‘quaintness’ within the domestic realm.
