Hunkered down in South Bend, Indiana, traces of spring are poking up, and budding out. If it dries up a bit, I will put in lettuce, spinach and peas next week. The rhubarb is pushing up out of the ground and the everyday noises of birds can be heard clearly without the buzz of traffic to muffle their songs. I saw a honey bee on an open crocus flower last week, so the world is waking up after all.
What She Carried: Hussifs
Fantastic Fibers, Yeiser Art Center 2020, Paducah, KY
This is the first time I have had work accepted into FF, and the first time I have submitted an entry to an exhibition that is not wall-hung. The Yeiser will try to make the exhibit available online, and still plans to publish a catalog, but like most things now, it is all up in the air for the foreseeable future. These “hussifs” are made with fragments of a very old, very damaged quilt from the 1880’s. The stitches are unbelievably small and even, the pattern is called double X. Sometimes called “huswifs” they are modeled on the rolled sewing kits that were common at the time of the westward expansion. I have a Pinterest board of historical examples if you are interested in seeing others.
Here is the artist statement I submitted for this exhibit:
The lives of women, and how we are connected to textiles, is what interests me as an artist. I enjoy the process of working with materials that have passed through other hands, constructing meaning from pieces of cloth. A hussif is a rolled sewing kit. These three hussifs tell stories of women who traveled to the plains and prairies of the Midwest during the time of westward expansion in our country. Leaving the familiar landscapes of home, they found an endless expanse of grassland, isolated and strangely beautiful. Inspired by diary entries written from a sod house on a Nebraska homestead, I have created these visual narratives of women uprooted.
Someday, we will all gather in our communities again, meanwhile I have a few strategies. I am truly an introvert, so long times of solitude are not a big problem for me. Mike and I are still getting out for a long walk everyday, sometimes together, other times not.
- I have just finished the fifth in a series of large works called Wisdom Cloaks, and will start another today or tomorrow.
-I am reading a lot of books (fortunately Mike and I went to the library and stocked up two days before it closed) and here are a few titles: Educated, by Tara Westover; Dear Edward, by Ann Napolitano; Creatures, by Crissy Van Meter; Things in Jars, by Jess Kidd; The Lost Man, by Jane Harper.
-I am staying in touch with friends by phone, text and email, we enjoy a family Zoom conference with our four kids and their families every Sunday afternoon. Tonight we are having virtual starters and wine with our Monday night supper club.
-I have vowed to have a sparkling clean house by the end of Easter week…I am trying to get Mike on board for that one.
-Teaching my college classes virtually has been a creative challenge, but so far, so good. There is a learning curve, but the technology has been cooperative.
-I stay mindful of how fortunate I am, and how difficult life is for so many. May this crisis be a catalyst for positive change in the world, and let it begin in this place, with me.
Be well, stay close, find creative outlets in your own sheltered spaces.