About April
My work synthesizes the processes of weaving and embroidery to investigate the pattern relationships present in weave structures. The weaving draft is a polyrhythmic score, played on the loom by the weaver--a physical manifestation of a complex mathematical process. By responding to the naturally gridded architecture of woven cloth with embroidered mark making, I am writing a code with which I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of generative weave patterns. Once I… more
New Work, 2017
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The New ParadigmThe New Paradigm Embroidery on hand woven cotton groundcloth 30 x 36" 2016-2017
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detail, The New ParadigmThe New Paradigm Embroidery on hand-woven cotton groundcloth 30 x 36" 2016-2017
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process shotProcess shot from my time at Penland School of Crafts Winter Intensive Residency This photo gives a sense of my practice. Here you can see the black cloth being woven at the loom, and the lighter color threads are the embroidered interruptions. I work from a "blueprint" drawing that I create on graph paper that is made to scale. I render the pattern using small embroidered diagonal marks.
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You Are Closer Than You ThinkYou Are Closer Than You Think Embroidery on hand-woven cotton groundcloth 32 x 35" 2017 created while in residence at the Penland School of Crafts Winter Intensive Residency
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detail, You Are Closer Than You Thinkdetail shot, You Are Closer Than You Think Embroidery on hand-woven cotton groundcloth 32 x 35" 2017 created while in residence at the Penland School of Crafts Winter Intensive Residency
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Camlin1.jpgArbitrary Hierarchies Embroidery on hand woven cottolin groundcloth 34 x 45" 2017
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detail, Arbitrary Hierarchiesdetail shot, Arbitrary Hierarchies Embroidery on hand-woven cottolin groundcloth 33 x 45" 2017
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process shot, Arbitrary Hierarchiesprocess shot of Arbitrary Hierarchies
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EdificationEdification Embroidery on hand-woven cotton groundcloth 24 x 30" 2017 created while in residence at the Penland School of Crafts Winter Intensive Residency
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detail, Edificationdetail shot, Edification Embroidery on hand-woven cotton groundcloth 24 x 30" 2017 created while in residence at the Penland School of Crafts Winter Intensive Residency
2016
In June, I spent two weeks working as the fiber studio tech at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Located on a remote island off the coast of Maine, this residency was filled with artists who were at the forefront of the Craft movement. My job was to facilitate, manage, and educate within the fiber studio, but I was also left with time to pursue my own work and research. I began to reflect on the textiles from which I draw most of my influence, and realized that in all of these traditions the common thread is the hand-woven ground-cloth onto which dazzling geometric embroidered imagery is laid. I began to experiment with weaving my own ground-cloth, and in that move the entire direction of my work changed. I have begun to use embroidery as a tool in conjunction with weaving to gain a deeper understanding of patterns in weaving structures. Reincorporating weaving into my practice has felt incredibly natural and fulfilling, and it is invigorating to be making new moves in my studio after feeling like I had settled into a particular aesthetic.
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Man in the MirrorEmbroidery on hand-woven groundcloth 14 x 21" 2016
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Man in the Mirrordetail shot embroidery on hand-woven cotton 14 x 21" 2016
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Twill TestEmbroidery on hand-woven cotton 7 x 7" 2016
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Twill Testdetail shot embroidery on hand-woven cotton 7 x 7" 2016
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Broken Twill Phase OneThis work was woven while I was a visiting artist in residence at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Using their TC2 Jacquard loom, I was able to experiment with pattern and color, incorporating more complex imagery than I am able to on my floor loom at home. Jacquard woven cotton 22 x 34" 2016
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Process shot, Broken Twill Phase OneProcess photo of the weaving process on a TC2 Jacquard loom.
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Broken Twill Phase TwoThis work was woven while I was a visiting artist in residence at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Using their TC2 Jacquard loom, I was able to experiment with pattern and color, incorporating more complex imagery than I am able to on my floor loom at home. Jacquard woven cotton 22 x 34" 2016
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Detail, Broken Twill Phase Twodetail image This work was woven while I was a visiting artist in residence at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Using their TC2 Jacquard loom, I was able to experiment with pattern and color, incorporating more complex imagery than I am able to on my floor loom at home. Jacquard woven cotton 22 x 34" 2016
2015
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5/4Hand and machine embroidery on digitally printed drawing 17" x 17" 2015
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PassengerHand and machine embroidery on digitally printed drawing 17" x 17" 2015
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What More Can We DoHand embroidery on digitally printed drawing 8" x 8" 2015
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False Rectangle IVHand embroidery on digitally printed drawing 10" x 20" 2015
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False CubeHand embroidery on digitally printed drawing 12" x 12" 2015
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MaintainHand embroidery on digitally printed drawing 13" x 13" 2015
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Shift and Baby CubeHand embroidery on digitally printed drawing 5" x 5" and 20" x 26" 2015
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Breathing SquareHand and machine embroidery on digitally printed drawing 17" x 17" 2015
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Learning To Lighten UpHand and machine embroidery on digitally printed drawing 17" x 17" 2015
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Of InverseMachine embroidery on digitally printed drawing 17" x 17" 2015
Breathing Square
Correlations
2014
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HaystackCotton needlepoint 7x7" 2014
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Installation work in progressDigitally printed cotton canvas, needlepoint, masking tape, chipboard 14x12' 2014
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The Binding GateInstallation at Fields Festival needlepoint, acrylic yarn, plastic canvas 28x21' 2014
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I'm a Rake detailHand-woven double cloth pickup 24x21" 2014
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PortraitHand-woven double cloth pickup 10x12" 2014
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I'm a RakeHand-woven double cloth pickup 24x21" 2014
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Tumbling BargelloCotton needlepoint 7x7" 2014
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Optic JumpsuitDigitally printed crepe georgette 2014
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Installation in progress detailDigitally printed cotton canvas, needlepoint, masking tape, chipboard 14x12' 2014
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Optic Jumpsuit detailDigitally printed crepe georgette 2014
Baltimore Goes Elsewhere
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How to wind ribbon
Enter the pile
Define your solid perspective of the task at hand
Sink your hand to the floor
Who knows what lives in the depths of that realm?
Look to your dreams for truth or for some form of revelation
Do you see the sleeping pile while you rest?
I saw the recurring house of my childhood, overflowing with all the sinking weight to which I still doggedly cling
Boxes and boxes of ribbon, tossed on the floor and left to mingle
Their permanence secured and maintained by sheer volume
I came to this place, seeing only stratified chaos and dysfunction gathered in that room
I fancied myself some sort of material savior
And so I began my work, a colonial force!
I would impose my will, rejecting all offers of help. I must be solitary!
My spatial dominance taking the form of service to a system I did not understand
Can there be any non-coerced labor that is not, at root, self-serving?
How, in this world structured around cycles, can we break from oscillation,
using methods that still honor nature and death?
Select a ribbon from the pile
It’s good if you can find the end of one to get started
And pull, until it all comes out
It will all come up
You will reveal more than you meant to
There will be so many knots
Be resolute
Put some muscle into it
Lean into your task
There will be dust and debris
Be resolute, be stubborn
Keep pulling
Some ribbons will slide out of the pile, as if liberation were their sole physical purpose
You will learn to recognize these
You will develop your favorites
The ones that fit snugly and with purpose into your methodology
Sometimes you have to cut a ribbon free
It’s ok.
but try to limit these moments
only cut when absolutely necessary.
Collect your ribbons in a metal wash bin.
Be warned: with every ribbon you exhume, the pile will grow.
The pile does not stop growing: I am convinced of this.
Meditate on the futility of your task
on the potential ephemerality of your labor
It makes sense that I would have a singular recurring dream while immersed in this redundant and fruitless labor.
Time is melting, sometimes I sleep in the ribbon, but I can’t discern if that is dream or reality
Nestled between two eclipses.
collecting all the skins I must shed
fighting perpetual lethargy
at war with preconceived notions
I thought I could drop the ego!
As if it were some sort of optional shadow
Keep winding the ribbon
Wind ribbon every day
To make your task easier, use a drill with a large drill bit
hold one side of the ribbon against the bit
and depress the trigger, slowly
the bit revolves and winds your ribbon
Secure every wound bobbin with a small metal pin
This part must be done with tenderness
be sure to tuck in the sharp end of the pin
Containers are hard to come by here
you will have to find boxes on the street
these can be used in your sorting
find color families that resonate
When you are ready, these wound ribbons
can be placed into the large box
our collaboration grows in a sedimentary fashion
or not, once the box is shaken, moved, from one room to another
composite layers will merge
our patterns will mingle and lose their authorship
We work together.
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Winding ribbonWinding ribbon
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In the Ribbon RoomThe ribbons covered the floor in one big tangled nest.
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Processing RibbonsProcessing ribbons
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Processing RibbonsMy daily work took place at this desk, winding ribbons for hours.
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Ribbon windingI used a drill to wind ribbons into spools, honoring Esther's method of winding ribbons around pencils.
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Processing RibbonsOnce I finally revealed part of the floor of the Ribbon Room, I was able to clean it. Because no part of the collection can be thrown away, I had to sort all of the little bits and pieces from the dust.
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Ribbon pileIn the month that I was at Elsewhere, I was able to wind and sort around 3,000 ribbons, but as you can see in this photo, there were many more left over. I tried to make them into a large pile structure, so that folks could enter the room and move freely around the ribbons. The pile also gave a sense of the scale of ribbons that were remaining to be sorted.
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First FridayDuring the First Friday opening, I continued to perform my task of winding ribbon. Visitors were encouraged to come in and talk to me about my project.
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Ribbon storageUsing materials salvaged from the Elsewhere collection, I built a large storage box to house and display the wound ribbons. This box can be opened, so that future residents can add to or take from the collection of spools.
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The Ribbon RoomThe finished installation.