Influence

Since childhood, creative practices have been a natural necessity for me. Whether it be drawing, painting, collages, or weaving dandelions together in the summer months, my hands have always had the need to be busy. To put it in fewer words, creating has always been a comfort to my most essential being. It wasn’t until college where I was finally able to begin putting words and explanations to the passion I had towards these activities and why they created such a sense of calm and relief for me.

Throughout my childhood, parental trauma and physical isolation created a strong barrier between myself and the world. I wasn’t able to release emotions in a way that was necessary for development. Whether it be in a notebook, or staying in from recess to work on clay sculptures, creative spaces were a way for me to find relief without needing an exact explanation of the experiences and feelings I was going through.

Growing up on a farm, I was closed off from any kinds of culture, music, media and personal development within spaces other than my home. During this time, I was discouraged from asking questions and inquiring about much of anything at all. Confused and unable to understand these rules, I looked to nature for a sense of solace and greater imagination. Trees became skyscrapers to climb, streams became great rapids, ants and bees took part in daily commutes to and from their various destinations, and the fields of crops were full of lively colors, textures and shapes that somehow made their way from a single seed in the ground.

During my parents’ painful and messy divorce, craft became the backbone of my daily routines. I started taking any art classes that I could fit into my schedule and attending any after school activity that would allow me to learn more about creative processes.

When I found fashion and textile design, a wave of relief crashed over the walls I had been building since I was a child. It created the framework for an entirely new way of viewing myself, my experiences, and the ways in which I could not only cope, but how I could share these experiences with others beyond the limits of words. The repetitive processes of stitching, knitting, embroidering and weaving became a balm to my internal wounds.

From this discovery of inner peace, a body of work called “Influence” was born. In a condensed version, my artist statement regarding the body of work is this:

“As individuals move through the human experience, they undergo many diverse scenarios, both positive and negative. As a textile artist, my practice is focused on these experiences and how they can be translated into physical bodies of work. Through repetition and experimentation with textiles, garments and materials I produce become the physical form of these experiences. By taking traditional silhouettes and exaggerating elements to alter the wearer’s mobility, I create connections between the garments and the restricted internal capabilities caused by trauma. A specific area of focus in this work is the exploration of childhood trauma and its effect on individuals as they mature, moving into their adult lives. By dissecting plastic flowers, textural yarns and knitting them into garments, the materials are taken out of their usual context and transformed into something new. This process of rearranging diverse materials into wearable forms helps me to better understand the process of how therapy can help alter an individual’s perspective of personal traumatic experiences into imagined objects. Changing the form, whether it be physical or imagined, helps to create a new environment for the emotions, and therefore a new approach to dealing with and recovering from traumas.”

Since this exploration and discovery within the comfort of my creative endeavors, I have continued to create wearable pieces of art. My most recent extension of the Influence collection would be designing a series of voluminous tulle dresses. Each one embodies a combination of vibrant colors and energy that takes on a new life when placed on the human body. In a sense, they are activated when engaged with. The textile relies on the human experience to express the garment’s true intentions and message to the viewers. I can’t put into words how wonderfully surreal this experience is. To start with a fabric no more energetic than a blank piece of paper, and then mold it to create shape, volume, and transformed purpose is truly the most gratifying experience that I have yet to behold.

Winning this challenge would exponentially help my goal of expanding this ongoing project and accomplish its purpose: creating and sharing work with broader audiences to help them begin the process of self exploration and discovery of inner peace. Within the practice of discovering and soothing the intangible, the need for materials, equipment, studio space and documentation all come into play. Being able to sustain this practice would allow me to make this fulfilling passion a full time reality.

I thank you immensely for your time and hope you will consider my application for Threading the Needle.