silk, cotton, dimensions variable, 2017

Over the past year I have watched my twin sister transition from college graduate to full time teacher, fiancé, and mom to two pets. She shares a home with her partner and they plan to be married in October of this coming year. Within this home structure she fulfills a very typical housewife role completing all the traditional domestic chores while her future husband tends to the “outside work.” I have observed her frustrations and stresses as she struggles to fulfill the role of “housewife” on top of her daily regime and very much have been frustrated by these expectations that have been set for her.

Using a camera to document this personal history as well as a collective of couples around the Midwest these photographs depict domestic interiors cut up, crocheted, and restructured creating a new image entirely. The crocheting process serves as a means to bring power to women’s craftwork while reconstructing and reconfiguring the domestic space offering redefinition of roles, ideas, and expectations within that setting.

Untitled, Series of Crochet Photographs

The Importance of a Patch

2018 CCAD MFA Thesis Exhibition, Collision

Through crochet, a craft taught to me by my mom, I am investigating the complications and emotions of my relationship with my dad and his wife as a firefighter. Navigating between the emotions of longing for my dad to be more present in my life yet understanding his need and want to provide for my family is a struggle I have always maintained. Using crochet to recreate fire patches my dad collected throughout his career, I aim to tell a story of the difficulties of relationships, of feelings like pride and pain, and how they can exist in the same space. In addition, I have taken fire hoses and crocheted them as a separate means of exploring the same ideas.