A Thin Thread Exhibition
I vividly remember my grandmother gathering my sister and I around a large box containing numerous textiles created by my great aunts. The intricate thread work in the embroidery and tatting were mesmerizing. The time it took to make each piece was evident and I remember feeling a strong connection to these incredible women – envisioning them sitting together, talking, and stitching. It is this moment, over 25 years ago, that I first became fascinated with fiber work.
I experienced a similar fascination and awe years earlier when my family moved from the Twin Cities to Northern Minnesota. I was 8 years old. I remember a sense of wonder roaming the woods outside my family’s new home. Walking through pine trees, finding foot paths to follow, and the surprise of stepping from the dark woods into a vast sunny field. An ideal playground for a shy displaced introvert. The rich diversity of plants, in this undisturbed prairie, and living under a dense canopy of trees is where I developed a love for, a connection to, the natural world. Where my kinship with plants began.
My work is rooted in these seminal moments. I bridge fragmented thoughts and information, merge process with materials, and seek to cultivate connections. Individual marks are placed in relationship to one another, units accumulate to realize a work, and ethereal shadows are cast from their stitched or woven counterparts.
Photo credit: Cords Photography