Artist Statement
“I recognize that I’m human, and the older I get, the more I realize how fallible I am, how fallible we all are.” - Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist
(for Sheryl Sandberg)
In my experience being a female and a Midwest native, family traditions and constructed gender roles have influenced me to question the idea of traditional painting. By utilizing hand sewn elements, an 1863 Domestic Treadle sewing machine, a PFAFF Hobby 1022 sewing machine, and a Roland UV printer, I am exploring the progression of technology from the industrial age to present-day. In our contemporary society, technology is advancing so quickly that the maker’s hand has become almost obsolete and the process of creating can become manufactured, leaving no trace of the character that is a natural product of human error. As I mimic sewn lines through a UV printing process, the appreciation of time and labor-intensive work is lost until these processes of sewing and printing are combined. By using thread, folds, feminine color, and shadow, this series references ideas of women’s work and the female body, while also exploring the subtle and overlooked.