The textiles that surround us speak volumes about us. From the garments that we wear on our bodies, to the kitchen towels that dry our dishes, a person’s textile choices (or lack of) can create a complex portrait of them.
I’ve been wearing work clothes all my life, clothes that I had to get a little more out of. Holes got patched. Garments got passed down through generations. Jeans got turned into quilts, curtains into rags. This was the reality of the (sometimes) working poor. The material culture of poverty reimagines all domestic textiles over and over again.
The history contained in work clothes exposes the burden of the working class, from the factory where it was made, to the labors of the person wearing the clothing. My art continues this work cycle, taking into consideration both the time and physical labor of the making process. By reusing materials from the people around me, I’m exploring the identity that is wrapped up in our everyday textiles, and deconstructing in order to reconstruct them into something that I can make sense of. From long-term collaborative installations, performative mending workshops, and traditional processes like quilting, I am working through ideas of identity, care, and labor.