Attachments is comprised of objects and materials that trigger childhood memories of things collected or passed down from family that hold affection and bind us together. The things we can’t part with become a part of us.
Attachments 2004 35"x35"x4" on metal stand wood, glass, found and handmade objects, personal memorabilia, (found metal stand is no longer available) The color pink has associations of tenderness and femininity. This box contains objects I had emotional attachments to that trigged childhood memories of longing, desire and loss. Some of the objects were collected or passed down from family and some were parts of pieces from other work I made that became a source for further investigation. small twined objects out of waxed linen from Untouched- wrapped driftwood sticks with resist dyed string- bones- small baby figurines wrapped with hog gut-shredded paper that is stitched together and waxed- small twined figures- mother's recipes and box- my teenage diary- spools of silk thread- wrapped seed pods of resist dyed string and hog gut- women's leather gloves- my great grandmother's hair iron- my hair sitting on my aunt CV's handkerchief- tiny pink seashells- small pink felted tongues- felted over wooden objects- sticks painted with gesso and rubbed with graphite
overview of cabinet on found metal cart
A look inside the box and the arranged contents
Archive 2004 24"x16"x4" found cabinet, driftwood, blankets, personal memorabilia Remedies for healing and repair are kept in a medicine cabinet. The remedies in Archive connect to childhood memories. These strange salves of my past, the blanket, bandage, cards, clothespins, plaster cast of my teeth, rusted toy wheels and baby shoes are reminders of the bruised childhood I once endured. The sticks are now pacifiers. The small pink felted covering on the wooden spool is an association I have to biting my nails and sucking my thumb. A reminder that the color pink has associations of nurturing and wool has warmth and protection.
Archive detail of driftwood sticks
Bib 2004 29"x8" found wooden clothespins, waxed linen, twined together The worn quality of the clothespins suggested their uselessness but they are repurposed and valued for their wear and tear. I am attracted to their aged markings that suggest they were once loved.
detail, Bib
Remnant 2004 77"x18"x12 Approx. 30 lbs in weight found wringer, mens button-down shirt plackets, dyed, stitched Remnant is composed from men’s button-down shirts I collected from thrift stores. Their previous use added to the feeling of memory and meaning of wearing hand-me-down clothes. I grew up the middle child of four brothers. The time I spent cutting out the buttonhole plackets, dyeing and then stitching them became a mindful and meditative repair.
detail of top and wringer, Remnant
Swaddling 2004 60"x37"x18" buttonhole plackets, wool, found chart rack, found blankets, thread Buttonhole plackets separated from their shirts act as lines of text and the buttonholes as text. Pieced together they read as textile. Swaddling is stitched together with pink thread, embedded with wool and makes a blanket to convey a sense of caring and warmth.
Swaddling, detail of wool penetrating the plackets' surface