Statement
My recent book works arise from the theme of "everyone's everyday journey: growing older" and touch on the changes in memory, competence, and perception that we may experience at different stages of life. I prefer to use materials that have already been used in some way - recycled fabrics, rescued papers, old threads - and ordinary, ubiquitous media like ink and wax and graphite. Similarly, I like to use simple, repetitive, accumulative processes - handwriting and hand stitching chief among them. Chance and randomness - and accidental occurrences - are no strangers to the work in progress.
Other book works are concerned with the relation of materials in space. The codex format of the “ordinary” book provides two distinct spaces: when fully open, the flat space of a page-spread is nevertheless divided into two sections; and when closed, those areas are in direct juxtaposition. Also, the diptych presented by the open book is usually viewed horizontally, as we hold the book or lay it on a surface, whereas when the book is closed it is most often vertical, stored on a bookshelf. The Black Books use these qualities of the book to bring together emotionally-resonant materials in a way that tells one or more stories, both when the book is open and they can be viewed, and when the book is closed, at which point the relation of the contents must be conjectured.
My textile works often start from a title that arrives out of thin air, or from the chance of unexpected materials meeting each other. I add other elements, developing the original idea, until everything seems to fall into place. At this point, adding a title can lead to further work on the piece, as it decides to go in a new direction.
My recent book works arise from the theme of "everyone's everyday journey: growing older" and touch on the changes in memory, competence, and perception that we may experience at different stages of life. I prefer to use materials that have already been used in some way - recycled fabrics, rescued papers, old threads - and ordinary, ubiquitous media like ink and wax and graphite. Similarly, I like to use simple, repetitive, accumulative processes - handwriting and hand stitching chief among them. Chance and randomness - and accidental occurrences - are no strangers to the work in progress.
Other book works are concerned with the relation of materials in space. The codex format of the “ordinary” book provides two distinct spaces: when fully open, the flat space of a page-spread is nevertheless divided into two sections; and when closed, those areas are in direct juxtaposition. Also, the diptych presented by the open book is usually viewed horizontally, as we hold the book or lay it on a surface, whereas when the book is closed it is most often vertical, stored on a bookshelf. The Black Books use these qualities of the book to bring together emotionally-resonant materials in a way that tells one or more stories, both when the book is open and they can be viewed, and when the book is closed, at which point the relation of the contents must be conjectured.
My textile works often start from a title that arrives out of thin air, or from the chance of unexpected materials meeting each other. I add other elements, developing the original idea, until everything seems to fall into place. At this point, adding a title can lead to further work on the piece, as it decides to go in a new direction.