February 2014

     This month my studio work is focusing on the use of the silhouette. I have found new and previously used images and am preparing them to use both as fused fabric elements and digital images to print directly on fabric. I have contacted several print shops to find a sheer, white fabric that can be printed with digital imagery that I create. In the past I have cut and sewn life-sized silhouettes on fabric curtains, but this process is time consuming and the results are inconsistent. Finding a print shop to do this will open up many possibilities for me to create text and images on this semi-transparent fabric.

   I have been examining the use of stitching and silhouettes in the fabric lined frames. I am working to create a story in each piece that is indicated by the attitudes of the figures, the pattern of the stitching and the frame itself. I am looking for ways to activate the frame more as a part of the entire composition.

    Three-dimensional construction is very interesting to me, and I'm looking for ways to float the transparent fabric in space and contain figures within it. I have several fabric figures that have been dipped in wax. I'm examining how to mount these on or within fabric structures.

     As I manipulate the layers of fabric, I'm also using other translucent materials, such as vellum, that I can embed images within as well as superimpose drawings upon.

     In all this work the idea of the human being struggling with identity, belonging, conflict, and emotion drives the imagery and materials.

     For my academic research I am focusing on the idea of the "trace" as evidence of memory, the passage of time and socio-political concerns. The work of Doris Salcedo, Gabriel Orozco and Felix Gonzalez-Torres explores these ideas. These concepts reflect on personal as well as political issues that I hope to express in my own work.