My craftivism
Art vs. craft, the age-old debate. I believe calling something craft rather than art was simply another way to make the work of women less relevant. It’s well documented that men dominated the art world for centuries. Calling stunning, multi-faceted, intricate artwork like embroidery, cross-stitch, quilting, knitting, and sewing “craft” is another way for the patriarchy to uphold the lie. I’m an artist and an activist who employs techniques like hand stitching in my work, much of which is a commentary on social ills and politics. I’m a proud craftivist.
I also continue to work in a landscape I often refer to since publishing my book as my “strange diary,” using collage in a variety of forms to tear apart and rebuild, to investigate and invigorate, and improvise.
For me, collage is always the perfect metaphor for life and I recognize that I’m closest to my feelings about motherhood, family, marriage, feminism, social justice, and politics in my artwork. It is in the studio where I feel free to bump up against my despair, worry, anger, disenchantment, and frustration, where I explore love and desire and faith. It is here that I rattle the bars of the cage of motherhood. It is here where I feel safe to rage against the machine.