Threadborne, August, 2002

The Project Room , Saltworks Gallery

Artist’s Statement  

   Inanimate objects take on power through

     significant association. Relics, artifacts,

     mementos, all are linked to some

     experience of days gone by. The poignant

     nuances of the everyday don’t necessarily

     have a thing associated with them but, as

     we breathe through these simple

     experiences, we are most always clothed.

     The sometimes mundane history of daily life

     can be tracked by what we wear, what lays

     closest to our skin.

     Wardrobes can mold to our forms and

     psyches, becoming an integral support to

     how we identify ourselves. I am wedded to

     the eighties, wearing clothes from high

     school that are over half of my age, thankful

     that they are back in style (or so I think). I am

     bonded to this era – my first kiss, screw, drink,

     and deep depression. In my closet is a box

     of eighties’ era pants awaiting a dramatic

     loss in my waist inches that will doubtful

     ever happen. With image often being such

     a priority, some of us collect

     never-to-be-worn-again clothing that

     presents who we want to be, how we want

     to look. These folded or hung fabrics sit

     there, gawking at us, asking to be taken out

     of their misery.

     Clothing can bear the weight of

     overwhelming feelings and memories. Half

     of my wardrobe was once my father’s. I

     couldn’t bear to see these archives

     disappear after he passed away. For those

     who place significance on clothes throwing

     them away can be a painful process. I am

     guilty of emphasizing symbol over material. I

     revel in memory and history. How healthy is

     this? I don’t know.

     Now, in my work, I am excavating the worn

     and hoarded, cataloguing them, and letting

     them go. thread borne releases these

     documents of times past, with no possible

     return for my heaven bound hamper.