Textiles have the ability to create tangible expressions of ephemeral experiences and encapsulate a specific time and place. They also, naturally, often speak to the feminine or domestic realm.
The images created in "The Past is Ever Present" are imprinted with lace patterns found in the windows and entrances to the homes in Galatina, Italy.
This photographic, performative and textile-based work explores, through lace ornamentation, domestic roles, invisible labor, matriarchal lineage, and public/private expressions of self – the saintly, the erotic, the ornamental or mysterious.
In processing the cyanotypes, I meditatively count silently in my head for eight minutes, allowing each piece to develop in the sun, and thus creating a unique record of time, place, and my silhouette. The process and resulting unique works embody remnants of a past life or journey, both private and public.
View installation: Andrew Durham Gallery
Related Press: Glasstire
