Architectural Textiles

Artist Statement

In graduate school I began working in textiles, primarily with surface design techniques on cloth. I also learned how to weave rag rugs, I saw them as a canvas and allowed me to create descending staircases that rested on the floor plane.

While I was working with textiles the staircase was my primary muse. The imagery in these architectural textile pieces was culled from my surroundings; places I lived or encountered on my travels. The staircases, hallways and doorways were sketched in my journals and became the inspiration for the narrative spaces in this series. Although the sketches initially depicted elements of reality, during my creative process I worked from memory causing them to undergo an emotional transformation that created the spaces in my work. I enjoy the creative dialogue that unfolds as a piece takes shape. The staircases, hallways and doorways become symbolic spaces, metaphors for expressing the various journeys, transitions, and thresholds within life's experiences. My work draws on the viewer's intimate involvement with steps and portals to elicit feelings and personal interpretations. 

Nature, the ultimate colorist, inspired the vibrant palette for this body of work. Seasonal landscapes, the textures and colors found in the natural world, especially the intense vibrant colors of flowers served as the inspiration my palette.