I work with vintage, printed fabrics and found embroideries made by women of previous eras. I act as a collaborator, modernizing their traditional work and altering its original purpose. The fabric becomes the foundation for a fantastical, exotic dialogue between the old and the new. My art deals with history, tradition, mythology, nature, relationships and intimacy. The entwinement of contemporary motifs onto these vintage fabrics inspires contrasts and dialogues between the time and consciousness of the original creator and topics that concern us today.
I am drawn to dichotomies, such as soft and tough, dirty and clean, fantasy and reality, especially as they relate to gender. My work explores common feminine archetypes and stereotypes such as the Madonna/Whore, Pin-Up Girl, Lolita, and the Femme Fatale. Searching for that odd thing, the Feminist Beauty Queen, I mix subversion with flirtation, humor with power, and intimacy with frivolity, and in doing so I often straddle an ironic edge.
In the process I strive to inspire certain questions: What role do women
want to play in society? Who do we want to be? What kind of relationships do we want? Who are our role models? In my work I hope to ask all of this within the context of constantly shifting boundaries that define our relationships and our identities.
