My work draws on the metaphors shared by language and textiles. Like language, textiles are created by a finite number of essential units that yield infinite creative possibilities. Many of the processes I use in my work are drawn from textile traditions and are based on elements that, through repetition, layering, and transformation, generate a structure. I am engaged by the concept of a universal grammar shared by all people, regardless of their native language. The elegance of this theory has led me to consider the poetic qualities of grammar and has suggested visual possibilities that I explore through the materiality of ink, paint, paper, and thread.
Thread is a central element in my work, giving it both physical and metaphorical structure. In making this work, I also consider the associations provided by commonplace items such as marking tags and map pins. In recent pieces, I have created a “chalkboard” of panel, paper tags or hand-woven cloth to use as the site for my investigations, allowing me a space in which to literally work out my ideas. Handwritten words, threads, tags, and map pins allow me to explore ways of marking aspects of language structure.
