In the alley, away from the drive-up appeal, there is a backside of things, the underbelly of our well-kept yards. Often fence panels are stacked and layered, resulting in lovely linear design, crossing and overlapping.
Medium: Dye and paint on silk, cotton, found fabrics, fused collage, monoprinted, machine quilted
detail
37 H X 62 W in, 2018
Private Collection
37 H X 61 W in, 2018
Private Collection
detail
59.5 H X 35 W in, 2017
detail
I like what happens when I look through the grid, like peering into and past a wire mesh, chain link or even slatted fence. It forms a scrim for the scene behind—making instant units, providing instant analysis and in a way, making an instant quilt.
More of these works were featured in “Through The Grid,” my solo exhibition at Visions Art Museum in San Diego in 2017.
Medium: See image captions.
Materials and Process
Detail
51.25 H X 33 W, 2015
Dye on silk, found fabrics, fused collage, machine quilted
Private Collection
51.25 H X 33 W in, 2017
Dye and paint on silk, found fabrics, fused collage, monoprinted, machine quilted
Detail
43 H X 29.5 W in, 2018
Art quilt: dye and paint on silk, found fabrics, fused collage,monoprinted, machine quilted
Detail
27.6 H X 26.5 W in, 2018
Art quilt: dye and paint on silk, found fabrics, fused collage,monoprinted, machine quilted
Detail
88 H X 88 W in, 2017
Dye on cotton, monoprinted, pieced, machine quilted
How many ways can I print and paint the intersection of line and shape? This is a part of my studio practice—a puzzle to be solved, an experiment.
Detail
74 H X 74 W in, 2017
Dye and paint on silk (including organza, monoprinted, pieced with overlock stitch
The structure of this work came from my desire to keep the silk fluid, its natural state. I began to see the patchwork stitching as a supportive net for the unruly fabric and devised a way of piecing the patches with a serger.
I think of this work as a safety net.
Detail
43 H X 40 W in, two-sided, 2017
Dye and paint on silk (including organza), found fabrics, fused collage, monoprinted, machine stitched
Begun as a technical experiment, this work was safe—and boring. By risking the ruin, I found lift-off.
Detail Side A
Detail Side B
80 H X 80 W X 1 D in, two sided, 2017
Dye and paint on silk (including organza), found fabrics, monoprinted, machine and hand stitched
This work echoes the wire mesh fences and chicken coops that I see as I walk through the alleys of my neighborhood in Dallas. Some are pristine while others are patched and distorted with time. I drawn to their built-up complexity and revel in the overlapping patterns.
Detail
80 H X 80 W X 1 D in, 2017
Detail
40 H X 40 W in, 2013
Dye on silk, monoprinted, machine quilted
I made this work with a single panel of monoprinted silk crepe de chine, cut into squares and rearranged—an “exchange” game.
Detail
These studies are an opportunity to experiment with linear design and a limited color palette.
“Alley walking” is what I call my practice of gathering patterns created by overlapping slats and fences. I see these alley sights while happily crisscrossing my neighborhood on foot and recording them on my phone. The resulting photos have influenced my work for the past decade.
Medium: Dye and paint on silk, cotton and found fabrics, fused collage, some monoprinted, machine quilted
Detail
14.75 H X 18.75 W in, 2014
Private Collection
17 H X 17.75 W in, 2014
Private Collection
49 H X 8.5 W in, 2014
Private Collection
Detail
25.25 H X 18.5 W in, 2014
Detail
22.5 H X 35.5 W in, 2016
10 H X 19 W in, 2016
Private Collection
While I grew up in the North and wore a lot of plaid (wool!), I later I moved to Dallas, Texas, a city of big hair and animal prints. I went through culture shock and tried to find my identity among the Texans.
Here is my mash-up: spotted and exotic pelt-like hues with an overlaid plaid grid. I am looking though one thing to see another.
Medium: Dye on silk, cotton, found fabrics, fused collage, machine quilted
Detail
51.5 H X 51.5 W in, 2014
Private Collection
51.5 H X 51.5 W in, 2015
Private Collection
Detail
51.5 H X 51.5 W in, 2015
Detail
20 H X 20 W in, 2015
Private Collection
20 H X 20 W in, 2015
20 H X 20 W in, 2015
I grew up in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where wool plaid clothing was worn for warmth (and style!).
When my mom was teaching me how to sew (intermittent instruction from age ten to twenty), she would explain plaids and their structure, whether they were even or uneven. Together we tackled the challenge of cutting out and sewing a garment of the perfectly matched plaid. I still love a visual puzzle.
Medium: Dye and paint on silk, cotton, found fabrics, fused collage, machine quilted
Detail
52 H X 51 W in, 2011
Private Collection
57 H X 57 W, 2011
Private Collection
Detail
43.5 H X 43.5 W in, 2014
Detail
24.5 H X 24.5 W in, 2016
Detail
24.5 H X 24.5 W in, 2016
Detail
15 H X 15 W in, 2014
15 H X 15 W in, 2014
15 H X 15 W in, 2014
15 H X 15 W in, 2014
15 H X 15 W in, 2014
Experimenting with discarded bits of fabric became a meditation on the symmetry and pattern available in twenty-five squares.
Medium: Dye and paint on silk, cotton, found fabrics, fused collage, machine quilted
12 H X 12 W in, 2009
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2009
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2009
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2009
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2009
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2009
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2009
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2009
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2009
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2009
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2011
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2011
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2011
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2011
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2011
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2011
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2011
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2011
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2011
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2011
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2011
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2011
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2011
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2015
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2015
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2015
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2015
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2015
12 H X 12 W in, 2015
Private Collection
12 H X 12 W in, 2015
12 H X 12 W in, 2015
Private Collection
