Artist Statement
Memory gives us our identity - our recent personal memories, those of our present culture, and those of our ancestors. Our memories tell us who we are and where we have come from so we can determine where we are going.
I make cloths. On a grid I embroider words, whose sounds and meanings evoke memories, both happy and sad. The grid is reminiscent of crosswords. Answers emerge from hidden clues.
Cloth is a necessary and integral part of the conception and creation of the work. Cloth which has covered and protected us from early times. Cloth and textiles traditionally carried their memories with them, passed down through generations or from person to person. The cloth is made and the theme develops in tandem.
I embroider because my mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and so many women before them stitched, to express their aesthetic and to enhance the comfort of their lives. I carry on that memory. Patience, reflection, repetition are all required for this handwork. These traditional skills are a metaphor for daily life