"One, but not the Same" These women are all wearing the same rented dress, yet they allow their personalities to show through their styling and their attitude. The background pattern made of interlocking circles represents the potential for a closed-loop clothing industry, but can also represent the links that connect us, the wearers, to each other as we walk the events of life in [literally] the same shoes.
"Indigo Rivers" Denim is the world’s most popular textile, with an estimated 3.5-5 billion denim products made and sold throughout the world each year. Each pair of jeans consumes about 2,900 gallons (or about 11,000 Litres) of water throughout their lifetimes from seed to landfill, with most of the water coming from dyeing, finishing and washing. Not only do these garments use a staggering amount of the world’s fresh water, but can also release harmful chemicals, metals, and other substances into freshwater sources from the dyeing process when improperly managed. While scientists, farmers, and denim-selling companies are developing sustainable ways to produce the world’s favorite clothing items, we as the consumers need to be informed and give support to these improvements in production.
"Tools of Creation (Self-Portrait)" As I’ve learned more about both making art and making clothing in recent years, I’ve come to embrace my role as a creator. I’m amazed at what my hands can do with a paintbrush and pigments, or a needle and a thread. They’re such simple objects, maybe the oldest objects mankind have ever worked with, yet they can make the most beautiful works of art we’ll ever see. More profoundly, I’ve come to see my hands, my eyes, my knowledge, my body, as tools from God to mend, to see, and to create.
"Worn to Pieces " When touring a Victorian-Era home in my childhood, a guide pointed to a rug and mentioned that fabric from shirts, dresses, and coats were used until the garments were no longer wearable, but would then repurpose the textiles into woven rugs such as the one in that room. The rugs would then be used until no longer usable. Since fabric was the main cost of clothing for nearly all of history, the fabric would be re-fashioned by expert tailors and dressmakers to keep up with the latest styles and used as much as possible. This piece is a meditation on those old traditions. I imagine refashioning the clothes I love so much into patchwork coats and allowing them to become an entirely different work of art.
"For One Night Only" A wedding dress is likely the most intricate, immaculate, perfectly structured and tailored garment a woman will ever wear, yet it’s only worn once. What if each item of clothing was chosen with as much care, consideration, and importance?
"The Old That Is Strong Does Not Wither" This painting is of a young bride wearing her great-grandmother’s wedding dress. Both women wore this dress on their wedding day. As you purchase everyday clothing to the gowns or suits for life-altering events, consider the longevity of both the material and the make. How long do these last? Would you want to pass them down? Are your clothes a meaningful investment?
"Heirloom" My grandmother taught me to sew when I was a young girl. I remember countless hours making quilts with her, and her fitting dresses and costumes on me. While I’ve begun sewing again in the last couple of years, I’ve wished earnestly that I still had the chance to be guided by her expert hands. Before her passing, when it was clear she would never sew again, I was given some of her tools, notions, and fabrics. These tools remind me of her legacy and the responsibility we have as creators to pass down our knowledge to rising generations, allowing the knowledge and skills of the past to live on.
"Overflowing" Where does your discarded clothing go? In the United States, about 85% of used textiles end up in landfills, while the other 15% is donated, re-sold, or recycled. On average, Americans throw out about 70 lbs of clothing per person annually, and purchase 62 new clothing items every year. Instead of putting your stained, torn, and unwearable clothes in the trash consider donating anyway. Many don’t realize a majority of donated items are recycled for industrial rags or shredded down for other uses.