My current work focuses on the individual’s method of relating to the world and their experience of disillusionment and distrust in learned historical narratives, normative thinking and social standards. Through observation, research and memory, I look at the historical implications of specific textiles and sewing techniques with the intention of creating a textile piece that is both familiar and foreign. 

 

The style of quilting seen in this series is known as yo-yo quilting--a popular method during the 1920s and 1930s in Canada and beyond. Scrap fabric from sewing projects, household textiles and even feed and flour sacks were repurposed into intricate coverlets of gathered circles. These historical coverlets are often sewn in very uniform patterns, camouflaging the individuality of each circle into one large textile. When adapting this practice into my work, I wanted to emphasize the individuality of each circle by creating more organic, randomized arrangements and placing differing patterns and colours beside each other. For Shed Series, I used entirely recycled fabrics (keeping with traditional yo-yo quilting methods), selecting each textile not only for their material makeup (ie. cotton, polyester etc.), but also for their graphic details. 

 

Photography allows for the creation of subtle narratives, framing the model and textile in an environment that is again, both recognizable and abnormal. The photographs are meant to question normalcy--of environment, action and presentation--and embrace change in an understated manner, reflecting the small and constant transitions of the natural world.