Artist Statement
Through my craft I wish to explore the passing of time. In what ways is this passage experienced? How is it remembered?
I see the physical stitch as an index of my body's movement through time, like a fingerprint - it retains its connection to the time in which it was created. While a stitch grounds my presence in a specific space/time, it also refers to the same stitch made by countless people reaching back into antiquity. This reiteration - the condensing of history into a single gesture - simulates the experience of labour as an extended now. The pieces I create are a precipitate of this laborious (re)action:
time + gesture = labour + piece
Through the appropriation of the language and imagery of science my aim is to lend the craft of embroidery an added authority usually denied it. By reinterpreting the language of contemporary ‘truth’ through the ‘decorative arts’ I question the value of both. I present my pieces as paintings to facilitate a conversation surrounding the high art hierarchy which places the predominately male symbol of painting and sculpture above the lesser ‘female’ crafts. Through my attention to craftsmanship I wish to subvert this accepted order.