You have to start somewhere...

I can't remember how I was motivated to create my first art quilt. A recent college graduate, I was living in my first apartment and decided to take a basic rotary cutting class. I always had an interest in sewing...in fact, I attended Parsons School of Art and Design for fashion design in a pre-college program. But back then, I enjoyed making clothing- something USEFUL. After college, I again decided to make something USEFUL, a quilt.  Fast forward 15(ish) years and I no longer have any desire to make anything of any kind of practicality. I love the look of the new modern patchwork movement that is currently on the rise but damn if I can motivate myself to cut and sew a bunch of blocks together to form a pattern!

For me, I feel a strong need to express my feelings through my art. I need to tell a story. 

My first experience in using my art as my communication came from an unlikely source- a Tom Cruise movie. I remember watching Vanilla Sky and completely identifying with the social issues presented in the film.

 

Burning holes in some of the fabric, splattering paint on chiffon, unraveling the burlap...it was the process.  The process of the piece was synchronized with the theme of the piece. I was feeling what I was creating. I had found my release.