hand working conversation

XXXXXXXXXXXXX stitching

Is it an installation, a performance, or a conversation?

stitching together in the annex project space

begin with cross stitches

In the Dream Farm Commons Annex, August 20 - September 3 materials were provided for cross stitching text onto canvas panels. Friends arriving took a moment to choose the word they wanted to spend time with or, chose to prepare a new word, slowly transferring text onto prepared canvas using carbon paper.

text added:

LIBERATION   FREEDOM   SANCTUARY   CARE   BELONG   PEACEFUL  LOVE HOLD   GATHER   FALTER   LONELY   FEAR   INTENT   SORROW   OUTRAGE CONSPIRE   FORGIVE   ACHING   TEAR   QUEER  LOVE  COSMIC  TOGETHER  FRACTURE GRIEF   HOPE

Cross-Stitching text in the Annex during the month of August

back and front sides of work

Freshly stitched text pages are brought to my home studio to be given backsides, becoming sacks or what Ursula Le Guin might call carrier bags, holding the narrative of seeds of stories. Returning to the annex they are hung from a set of randomly positioned hooks to be arranged and rearranged over the upcoming weeks as torn and twisted fibers are added, and poetic connections made visible.

looking closely you can already begin ‘read’ the tangle:

Lonely - Sorrow - Tear
Love - Forgive 
Love - Sanctuary - Freedom - Liberation 
Gather - Queer
Aching -  Peaceful - Forgive

Beginning to install the work on the wall, witness to the connections being anchored with twisted fibers.

encounters

Encounters take many shapes. Sitting with folks stitching while stories slowly begin to emerge, the stories of who taught us to stitch and the things that were made to keep, to use or to pass along. The Mothers, Aunties and Grandmothers began with a simple border stitch than added more complicated ones desired for flower motifs. Sometimes it was through a summer camp or girl scouts that projects and techniques were shared. Today it is most often a social media post and a you tube video or an online course. All methods are good however, some lack the delicious spaces for conversations.

While at work others would share their read the backside and comment upon the quality of the work. Because of these moments some of us continue to carry judgements about the job being done. I quickly move to redirect the need for whatever perfect stitching might need to be while insisting we enjoy whatever we have, tangles and all, because it is absolutely perfect for the job at hand.

Many of us hold a yearning for those days and the moments sitting quietly, piercing the material, pulling the thread, repeating the feature of piercing and pulling until eventually knotting while a conversation began to simmer. Some of us talked about days before technological distractions, recalling how time was spent differently. Others enjoyed the simple break, enjoyed pattern making, the shape of the letter and the shifting colors of thread.

I consider these hanging text sacks as place keepers for our memories and prompts for thinking, talking and dreaming together.