Apron/Aproff

This apron is made of cotton muslin, hand-dyed with natural and synthetic dyes. I created the motifs on the fabric using traditional tie-dye methods such as: clamp resist immersion dyeing, arashi shibori, and crumple resist immersion dyeing. All of the fabric, except for the ruffle ties, was dyed in the same synthetic rose colored dye, and then the two packets were over-dyed for different amounts of time in the same vat of royal blue, synthetic dye. The ruffles were arashi shiboried in a vat of natural osage orange dye, with a few seconds in the royal blue vat.

Woven Lace Flapper Dress

This dress, designed in the fashion of a 1920s flapper dress, was hand-woven on a floor loom. Using linen, in the colors of gold-wheat, and white, I wove a two yard piece of fabric using the brooks boquet lace weave, with plain weave. I then carefully cut and pieced the fabric to create the garment above.

Disco Dancing Robot...Skirt

This is one of my first complete projects. I can be obsessive compulsive about process, and in the vein of The Little Skeleton, drafted the pattern, hand dyed the fabric, hand sewed the skirt,and hand embellished the narrative. With the intention of creating a subtle disco ambience for the fabric, I used potato dexterin with the base purple dye, followed by an immersion dye in teal. I then embellished the sequined disco ball, and appliqued and stuffed the robot (for dimension). This piece was created for the final project in Embellished Surfaces (spring 2005).

Portraits

These books are made from the covers of old Reader's Digest story collections, vellum lace, vintage ornaments, paper, and ribbon. They are hand bound with various stitches, including (from top left, bottom left, then to the right in the second picture) buttonhole, accordion, buttonhole, coptic, coptic dos a dos, and coptic again. They are simply blank books, meant for precious thoughts. The materials and method for binding specific to the individual book were inspired by the charm it is portraying. These charms were mostly given me by someone I was close to and who knew my appreciation for the sweet and precious.

detail from my favorite

The Little Skeleton

The Little Skeleton began as an assigment based on Frida Kahlo's life and work. I was influenced by elements of her culture, life, and art. The pictures above are the beginning of what became a long, but quite fluid process. To the left, is a section of the scarf that was influenced by Frida Kahlo's life and work. The colors of the cloth are vibrant, and feminine. The image is dia de los muertos-esq, and ethereal in the vein of Kahlo's imagery. The fabric is hand-dyed silk charmeuse. There are two sides to the scarf, as seen in the picture above to the right. The front has the print on it, and the back is solid fuschia. The picture to the right is of the critique for this project, during which it was suggested that I use this character to develop a story. Stubbornly, I denied my affinity for writing. I wished I could be such an artist that never needed to say what she meant about what she did...


Eventually, telling the little skeleton's story became the obvious answer to a difficult question: How do I make my computer art final tangible? I wanted a narrative, and had almost forgotten that it was pretty much laid out for me. Having just been to deserted Coney Island in the dead of winter, I had a perfect setting, and the story just flowed into it. The above images are the preliminary ideas for the finished little skeleton. They are reverse applique, and applique, embellished, and hand bound covers. The following images were laid out in photoshop before becoming the tactile, finished, The Little Skeleton.





The following are images from a sort of thumb-nail sketch I executed before going into making The Little Skeleton. Luckily, I improved upon what became muddied colors and indistinct blocks of color in this project in the final product.


























Finally:

The character of the Little Skeleton is the concept of death in a child's mind, unaddressed. He is solemnly carefree, evasive, morbid, cautiously playful, and innocent of all of the aforementioned.

The pages of the book are made from natural fabric (all cotton: muslin, cheese cloth, waffle, canvas). They are hand-dyed and hand screen-printed with original illustrations and text. The pages are collaged together using applique techniques and a sewing machine, all bound with pigskin leather. The cover is reverse appliqued, and hand-embellished.

Everything is Appropriate(d) in Design

Posession is our only obstacle.

Octopus on the Playground: The Appropriation of Public Space is a concept book. It is bound in a traditional buttonhole stitch, and is made of hand-dyed and bleached, recycled newspaper. Aside from the title and the characterization of the title, the backgrounds are borrowed from contemporary album artwork.

the original collages: dyed newspaper, appropriated album imagery, gouache

Plan and Execution

One of the first artist statements I took the time to write, took place over the top of someone else's writing. it was this altered book (to the left). That's how it always is, anyway. Whether you read your writing, and see books you've read in it, or maybe it's conversations you had, or lyrics you hear all the time, the sentiments are preserved in the memory of what's important to the individual. My personal goal is to refine it until it seems, or actually becomes, original.

Perhaps as result of culture or time, I feel at a loss for an effective means of communicating... my age, my place, or just the fact that history repeats itself as long as no one is paying close enough attention to notice. Let's get caught up in the awkward interactions, and the inability to follow the unspoken rules of social grace; forget the rest. I am communicating in this age of digital communication where I feel caught off guard more often than not. I want to take my time. I want you to be comfortable until I'm bored. I want closeness; I want you to dictate my influence on you, in your own time and space. You are not part of my world, but you are an influence on it. This truth is open to the interpretation of your personal reality.