I am a text based artist, working in painting, screen-printing, and fibers in Nashville, Tennessee. I have a MFA from the University of Tennessee and currently teach art at James Lawson High School.
Artist Statement
My work combines deadpan, humorous, or backhanded dialogue with domestic materials to create discomfort and directly confront viewers. The materials, a mix of recycled nostalgic and everyday textiles, are deconstructed, stitched, and sculpted to create interwoven surfaces for the screenprinted or stitched text.
The text is informed by southern vernacular, storytelling, southern politics, and belief structures. I enjoy experimenting with visual conundrums between text and materials, and often play with word spacing, layering, repetition, and masking, which challenges how the brain processes text. The history of quilting, the use of patterns, and the specificity of materials come together to create a patchwork of meaning that creates visual puzzles.
Recycling and reinventing old textiles is integral in my practice; I see myself as a collaborator with the women who made them. I was so lucky to grow-up with a family of seamstresses and needleworkers who wanted to pass down their skills and love of the craft to me.
