Memory

The themes of domestic craft and memories intersect and are literally sewn together through my work titled Memories. I represent memories physically through the medium of quilting. Over time memories distort, they can become difficult to remember, the order of events may shift, some aspects become ingrained and some details are forgotten entirely. 
 
I do this with fabric by materializing a memory by using a collage of photos and drawings transferred to textiles. The fabric is then cut into 2.5 by 44 inch even strips and the strips are sewn together to create one long strip, then the long length of the fabric is folded and cut in half. The two halves are sewed down the edge to decrease the length of the fabric in half while doubling its width . This process of reducing the length is repeated multiple times. Scrambling the image in an unpredictable way, pieces of the photo transfer are lost within the seam allowances, leaving some areas recognizable, while others are distorted beyond recognition, similar to how memory functions. There are parts of the work where an image has been cut and the viewer can only see a corner or uneven edge, akin to stories that are not clean-cut or accounts that do not follow the dominant tropes society expects. This deviation is uncomfortable both visually and mentally. 
 
There is a hypothesis that the body itself can hold memories, memories that can be physically triggered. The work is the colour of my skin because the memories are part of my body in the same way my flesh is. My memories are in my skin, in my mind and in my work. 
 
 I make work as a way to sort through and confront memories and to give courage, comradery and comfort to others that carry the burden of similar memories. I want to make an object that is reminiscent of a young child’s safety blanket, something I pour emotions into and find comfort in.