Year: 2011-Ongoing
Dimensions: 25’ x 20’ x 9’ (Dimensions Variable)’
Medium/ Technique: Thread, Machine Embroidery
**Produced with the support of The Ontario Arts Council, The Surface Design Association and la Maison des mĂ©tiers d’art de QuĂ©bec
In my work, I use a sewing machine to create thread drawings. By stitching into water-soluble fabric, I build up layered lines on a temporary surface. The crossing threads create structural integrity, so that when the fabric dissolves, the thread drawing holds together without a base. With only the thread remaining, these images appear fragile and seemingly on the verge of unraveling, despite their actual tensile strength. I am interested in this paradox—thread’s assumed vulnerability, its potential to come undone, and the surprising resilience it gains when sewn together.
“Floating Garden” emerged from my fascination with idealized spaces and dreamlike environments. The installation addresses the history of botanical themes in traditional embroidery, liberating flowers from the confines of embroidery kits and pattern books to create an immersive, experiential space. While researching English embroidery, I noticed the persistent recurrence of certain flowers—buttercups, English asters, daisies, and other blooms common to North America. These standardized motifs became the foundation of this piece, though it felt essential to interpret them anew, creating my own versions rather than reproducing historical patterns.
In “Floating Garden,” I have extracted these flowers from their original contexts—the samplers and botanical illustration books where they were catalogued and contained—and reintegrated them into a simulated garden environment. The installation transforms disembodied embroidery motifs into a spatial experience, surrounding viewers with suspended, stitched forms. The work exists in a state of tension: delicate yet durable, nostalgic yet reimagined, rooted in craft history yet unmoored from any backing.
This work has been included in the following exhibitions:
Exhibition: Floating Garden @ Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton, VA
Exhibition: Flora @ The Cornell Museum of Art
Exhibition: Embroidered Environments @ Hub Gallery, Penn State University
Exhibition: Day Dream @ The Okotoks Art Gallery
Exhibition: Embroidered Spaces @ The South Puget Sound Community College Gallery, Olympia, WAExhibition: Day Dream @ The Grenfell Gallery @ Memorial University, Corner Brook NL
Exhibition: Inside/Out @ The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art
Exhibition: Line: Drawn and Stitched @ Penn College Gallery, Williamsport, PA
