Community Loom, Kingsley Pines Camp, Raymond, Maine. 2021
The Community Loom is a collaborative project in which participants of all ages were invited to weave objects into a giant frame loom installed across the beams of an outdoor art space. Participants were invited to come into the art space during their free times as a way to relieve stress, learn a skill, or practice a meditative and repetitive art form. As the facilitator of the project, I instructed weavers, new or experienced, on how to be a part of the project, taught basic weaving techniques, and suggested they experiment. Materials include yarn, rope, fabric scraps, wool roving, smaller weavings completed in frame looms, a plastic leaf, ribbon, and 120 film backing. Participants were asked to sign an artist log that is displayed in the space with the piece.
The Community Loom is a collaborative project in which participants of all ages were invited to weave objects into a giant frame loom installed across the beams of an outdoor art space. Participants were invited to come into the art space during their free times as a way to relieve stress, learn a skill, or practice a meditative and repetitive art form. As the facilitator of the project, I instructed weavers, new or experienced, on how to be a part of the project, taught basic weaving techniques, and suggested they experiment. Materials include yarn, rope, fabric scraps, wool roving, smaller weavings completed in frame looms, a plastic leaf, ribbon, and 120 film backing. Participants were asked to sign an artist log that is displayed in the space with the piece.
Pieced Together, ArtFields 2021 Installation
https://www.artfieldssc.org/galleries/art/2021/pieced-together/216694
https://www.artfieldssc.org/galleries/art/2021/pieced-together/216694
Pieced Together
Pieced Together focuses on pattern and the meaning that a pattern can have to an individual. Historically, pattern has been important to family histories as people relate imagery to their specific family. Patterns and symbols convey a feeling, represent ideals, or represent a memory. Groups of people quilt things together to recontextualize symbols of importance, for example, visually describing physical paths, showing life-changing moments, or creating another visual story. A piece of fabric holds significance in the lives of many whether this is a piece of clothing gifted to us by those closest to us, a family heirloom, or the most comfortable hand-me-down outfit. I am interested in these stories and how people relate their own self-image to a visual pattern.
This body of work begins as a conversation with each subject, discussing abstract interpretations of ourselves. Together, we find the best way to repeat the feeling portrayed in the rendered portrait through a pattern. This pattern is in the background of the paintings, their clothing, and the accompanying quilt that combines each of the paintings into a more literal community piece. The collection of patterns and figures in my work build a community and allow each person a point of connection with a figure or a pattern, reminiscent of the group effort behind the history of quilting. To further emphasize this historical representation of people and ideas, I use transfer and print methods that leave areas of the pattern incomplete or roughened as if there has been wear and tear on the object as a result of use. The paintings are hung in close proximity to one another, giving the illusion of a joining. The quilted piece above is a continuation of the community of paintings. This reflects the concept of the quilt as a social tool.
Links:
Exhibition Website
Abstract and Artist Talk
2020 Undergraduate Scholarship & Creative Activity Abstracts Book (SOURCE), Winthrop University
This body of work begins as a conversation with each subject, discussing abstract interpretations of ourselves. Together, we find the best way to repeat the feeling portrayed in the rendered portrait through a pattern. This pattern is in the background of the paintings, their clothing, and the accompanying quilt that combines each of the paintings into a more literal community piece. The collection of patterns and figures in my work build a community and allow each person a point of connection with a figure or a pattern, reminiscent of the group effort behind the history of quilting. To further emphasize this historical representation of people and ideas, I use transfer and print methods that leave areas of the pattern incomplete or roughened as if there has been wear and tear on the object as a result of use. The paintings are hung in close proximity to one another, giving the illusion of a joining. The quilted piece above is a continuation of the community of paintings. This reflects the concept of the quilt as a social tool.
Links:
Exhibition Website
Abstract and Artist Talk
2020 Undergraduate Scholarship & Creative Activity Abstracts Book (SOURCE), Winthrop University
Threads of Memory
This installation is based on articles of clothing I was given by other people. Originally, I began by asking 5 people to tell me the stories detailing why the piece of clothing is important to them. I recorded each discussion and used short phrases from them for embroideries on each individual’s object. The idea of this project is to collect memories, specific or general, and display them in a way that increases relatability.
I felt this project could be pushed further than just the showing of the five original embroideries. I asked five more people for clothing and a story to expand the size of the project. I also decided to add a video element to this in order to push the imagery further than just the embroideries themselves using the recorded stories. I sourced videos and sounds that show things discussed in these recorded conversations. I clipped everything, the videos and the two sound channels, and rearranged them in an attempt to heighten viewer engagement as they try to piece together the imagery and sound. The three silhouetted figures are based on three of the ten people that helped me with this project. Viewers can walk through all of the embroidered pieces of clothing both to connect the original concept of collected memories and to add another visual connection in the puzzle of audio and video.
I felt this project could be pushed further than just the showing of the five original embroideries. I asked five more people for clothing and a story to expand the size of the project. I also decided to add a video element to this in order to push the imagery further than just the embroideries themselves using the recorded stories. I sourced videos and sounds that show things discussed in these recorded conversations. I clipped everything, the videos and the two sound channels, and rearranged them in an attempt to heighten viewer engagement as they try to piece together the imagery and sound. The three silhouetted figures are based on three of the ten people that helped me with this project. Viewers can walk through all of the embroidered pieces of clothing both to connect the original concept of collected memories and to add another visual connection in the puzzle of audio and video.