ARTIST’S STATEMENT

My process begins with my own photographs. I take these quickly, with purposeful spontaneity, so the images will retain some of the fleeting immediacy of moving through a space.

I hope to contrast the implied movement with a specific captured moment and place. A photograph captures that specific moment, but I always change the image to remake that moment in my imagination. The relatively slow process of embroidery adds the element of time, contemplation, and attention to detail. I try to be true to the quality of a place while also using personal choices to influence the final image. My recent works depict places and details that that I hope invite thoughts about the transitory nature of our natural environment during the turbulence of climate change.

I see my work as a marriage of photography and embroidery. I alter my photographs on a computer and transfer them to fabric. No part of the stitching process is computerized. I stitch the piece with a basic sewing machine. I lower its feed dogs so I can move the fabric freely as I sew, allowing me to control the length and density of stitches as needed.

The stitches are like pencil hatching. Different colors of thread are layered throughout each piece to enrich the colors. These layers become so dense that none of the original image or fabric shows. I find the fine scale of thread to be an extraordinary tool for describing details, and this discovery has allowed my work to continually evolve.