Description

Media: Thread, Silk, Natural & hand-dyed Shetland wool
Actual textile dimensions are 9.75 x 12.75 x 1/16,”10 1/2 x 13 1/2″ framed in white float frame.

This textile drawing utilizes a sewing machine as a drawing tool to create a thread work that incorporates a thin layer of silk and natural, as well as hand-dyed, Shetland wool from the artist’s family farm. This approach reflects a contemporary melding of Midwestern regionalism by combining historical and modern textile practices.

Through the use of wool from her rural farm, these works become acts of labor not only of the artist, but of multiple generations that have cared for the animals and have passed on knowledge of how to prepare and work with wool fibers. Thus, this style of work includes a true cradle-to-grave material and process, rare in our modern age.

The imagery references the memories and environment of the artist’s rural upbringing in Missouri. Phrases like “mind’s eye,” and “window to the soul” were references in titling the work.