I’m pretty excited about this new body of work. This series is headed to the new Soho House in Los Angeles.
The first 6 pieces were inspired by some vintage sewing patterns that I scored at an estate sale in the suburbs of Chicago.The ones that I found were from the 40s/50s/60s and all of the illustrations were of white women. Not terribly surprising but I decided to hit up Ebay and see if I could get some diversity in my vintage sewing patterns since the major sewing pattern companies have been around for over 150 years. Turns out...women of color were not featured on sewing patterns until the late 60′s early 70′s as best as I can find (and with confirmation from one of the major sewing pattern companies). So the two women of color featured are from the first sewing patterns I could find that featured women of color.
I hope to expand this series and bring a level of representation that did not exist.
Hand embroidery and watercolor on cotton. 8x10
The final piece is for the text wall in the main clubhouse.
(despite what the patriarchy would have you believe)
My intention is to encourage people to pause and consider what gets considered art and what gets considered craft and why....(spoiler alert: it has to do with WHO makes it - their gender and color)
Goldwork embroidery on silk 11x17
(and it’s hella hard to photograph it so I did the best I could)
