Labor of Love
2024
Wood base is 24″ x 24″ x 3″
Tower varies, approximately 48″ height
Materials:
Vintage handkerchiefs, machine embroidery, fabric stiffener, polypropylene stiffener
Knots & Tangles
I thought I would run out of sayings to machine embroider on the handkerchiefs, but that was not the case. The difficulty was on the engineering side. Finding an unnoticeable method to stiffen the cloth that would hold up through time, took some experimentation. Handkerchiefs are not all sized the same, so I had to work out where I would cut the notches into each one. There are some with lace edges having a different quality of rigidity and thickness which also presented some difficulties.
”Sculpture 2024″
ALL Arts Gallery, 307 Market Street, Lowell, MA 01852
July 12 – September 8, 2024
The components of “Labor of Love” interlock differently every time they are put together. Equilibrium and connection must be carefully considered to ensure dimensional stability while also providing overall coherence. Rearranging the tower involves some risk-taking, but the reward is of new facets facing outward, exposing a fresh look at embroidered phrases gathered from a career as full-time family caregiver.
Accumulating atop my unused artist’s canvases, I cultivated and balanced moments of guidance, support, patience, bravery, and love. While my contemporaries were building their resumes, I nurtured human connections, complex and often fragile, with occasional downfalls requiring a re-grouping.
Donations of vintage handkerchiefs came to my door, marked with accompanying memories of comfort and moments of grace – indelibly bound to previous caregivers. Through this artwork, I aim to honor the importance of caretaking and challenge the perception of full-time mothering as an anachronistic achievement.