Behind the Work
I create figurative fabric sculptures that explore the emotions we quietly carry. Rather than portraits of specific people, they are remembered lives, and pieces of ourselves stitched together. They speak of labor, family, loss, hope, and endurance. I am less interested in telling a story than in creating a moment of recognition. Each figure invites the viewer to pause, recognize something familiar, and perhaps see a part of themselves or someone they’ve loved. The figures are women, but the emotions they carry belong to all of us.
My work is shaped by life on our small farm in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. The simplicity of rural life influences not only the women I make, but the materials I choose. I am drawn to the depth and subtle variation of fabrics dyed by hand. Vintage trims and textiles carry the quiet patina of time, lending each figure a sense of history. Mohair shorn from our own goats becomes their hair, carrying the life of the farm into my work. In many ways, I stitch my own memories, labor, and life into each figure I make.