Description of Work

Corner Store - 2022 - Canvas - $100

Picnic Table - 2022 - Canvas - $120

Igloo - 2022 - Canvas - $120

Bubble Bath - 2022 - Canvas - $150

Slide - 2022 - Canvas - $100

Floral Arrangement - 2022 - Canvas - $180

Bug Jar - 2022 - Canvas - $140

Home Cooking - 2022 - Canvas - $140

Artist's Statement

My artistic process is an exercise in listening to myself, and there is a voice inside me begging to depict an imaginative and intimate playdate with the world. To capture this in my work I focus on photographing mundane and everyday spaces like backyards, fields and living rooms. Then, embroider details to create my “fabricated memories.” I individually frame each “memory” with vintage and found portrait frames that connect each piece like pictures in a family’s home.  Though some artists would be offended if you described their work as kitschy, I proudly label mine as such. To embrace the art of embroidery to its fullest you must lean into the ornamentation, the lace, the frills, the gaudy, and the decorative. One of the few things my mother passed on to me as a child was sewing and embroidery. These traditional crafts are deeply maternal, and the craft’s own context in the art world follows in its feminine dominance. What I love about my pieces is that they rely on multiple mediums to build onto the string. I have always been fond of drawing but tend to be a perfectionist. Drawing with string takes an aspect of your control away, it's all about outlining filling and building an image with straight lines and textures. I’m fond of the repetition, connection, and mindfulness that is cultivated during the creation process. 

However, woman lead fields, art related or not, in our society are often looked down upon as being easier, simpler, or less refined than male centric fields. Embroidery is considered kitsch and not taken seriously because of the feminine dominance in the craft, and that is why I do not hesitate to call my art kitschy. Though I am nonbinary and gender fluid, much like most women across the globe my childhood was filled with acts of misogyny that impacted my growth early on. My goal is to create a series that exists only for self-expression and allows me to come face to face with my past. Trauma is a constant cycle, within us, in our relationships, and in the world. To break this cycle for myself, I hope to find closure by bringing to life the scenes my inner child would thrive in. In this series I hope to give the audience small peeks into a “fabricated life” to show the growth of my inner child into the adult I am today.  

If you wish to purchase any of these pieces, please contact the gallery director, Jacqueline Nathan (jnathan@bgsu.edu.)