Artist Statement
When I first started making art I didn't know it would end up being connected to issues of sustainability, gender roles or connect to a history of textile making, all I knew was I enjoyed making so I continued making. I grew up in Michigan, living with my mom in Saginaw, my dad was on the other side of the state in Cedar Springs, a small town outside Grand Rapids. The history of craftsmanship and labor resonates through my work. From being little and watching my mother knit to my father working in automotive and steel industries, being a craftsperson is engrained in me. The production of my weavings is extremely labor intensive; wires get heavy fast and small braids build into long weavings that get woven into tapestry like sculptures. When I started weaving it was not my intent to create feminist work but it has definitely evolved into it. I see feminism as all women and men being equal: therefore, just as women can do masculine work, a man may create feminine work. My current chosen medium of electrical wires may feel masculine but the smallest braids in my weavings resonate with the friendship bracelets young girls braid. My material choices stem from being broke; for almost a decade I have chosen materials I am surrounded by, literally picking materials out of the garbage. I see potential and beauty in materials that others have discarded. This habit or hoarding of discarded materials has created a passion in me for being sustainable as an Artist. I am passionate about consumption in this country and how it leads to the disposal of goods and it is now my responsibility to put these materials back into production. As I weave I may head in one linear direction but I try to allow the wires to go where they want, creating new paths and textures in each piece. There is a repetitive nature to weaving that I find peace in, it is now an intuitive process and my entire body becomes a part of making my weavings. My work is traditional not only in the sense of weaving practices, but the history of parents teaching children the skills of textile and craft creation; just as my mother knit at home, my living room is now my studio where I weave.