BEYOND THE MEND

MFA Fibers Thesis

My work examines historic mending practices. In a modern gesture I interpret their meaning and purpose through fiber paintings that highlight the importance of care and preservation of our belongings. Like our bodies, our clothing naturally ages. Mending is a way to examine what and why we consume. The process of my thesis work exhibits my take on traditional darning and mending practices to collage materiality morphing its state of being. This technique is overlayed in a repetitive fashion, forming a new textile all together while capturing impressionistic-like brush strokes, through the interconnected weaving of hand stitching. Mending of the things we own directly correlates to how much we value them. In the bigger picture we need to review what it means to value cloth, politically, globally, and fundamentally.