It’s difficult to ignore the ways that fabrics and fashion infuse our lives. I’ve enjoyed working with fabric and embroidery since I was in my teens, and who hasn’t felt a kinship with a particular stuffed animal at some point in their life? Those toys are often what attract us to the plights of these animals in later life. All the while, I was learning more and more about the increases in textile waste due, in large part, to the fast fashion industry.

In 2021, these various elements came together with my first sculpture, Gerald. He is a combination of skills learned over decades: traditional jointed toy techniques, crazy patchwork, embroidery, beading, sculpting, and painting. As I worked on his components, I had more time to think about our impacts on their world and vice versa.

What started as a single idea has become a series of paintings, sculptures, and works that fall somewhere between.

An exhibit is in the works for May 2024.