Holding my breath
In Holding my breath, tactile stories explored through stitching and recollections of ignorable moments attempt to catalogue a time, place, or an experience. The work pairs expressive renderings with stitched drawings of site-specific prints and patterns found in places that we occupy. These sensory images are derived from mundane, ignorable objects and décor such as wallpaper, rugs and fabrics but are forgotten, overlooked, or ignored in our daily lives — as if the stitches made the memories more tangible because they become a dimensional series of lines. Embroidery is a slow, intimate process; one that involves careful consideration for the placement of individual stitches. With each successive stab of the needle to the drawing, the paper is slowly transformed, metaphorically linking the method and material to a fleeting memory changing over time. The combination of drawing and textiles becomes inextricable from each other. They are permanently linked, in that, even if the stitching were removed, a fugitive account of the pattern remains and is evidenced through the pierced holes. The memory might be more difficult to identify but its trace is always recorded.
