crochet drawings, 2023
Through crochet drawings, I connect text to textile and consider language as a living, embodied practice. I'm interested in the historical development of writing and writing systems. The letter "A" descended from a pictogram of an ox head. Similarly, other letters can be traced back in history to graphic shapes representing palms, teeth, hands, and mouths. My stitched graphic forms are letter-like and bodily, though sometimes embellished and buried in flourishes like the lyrical illustrations in medieval illuminated manuscripts. For me, textiles have always been linked to communication.
My great-aunt once showed me a potholder she had made decades earlier and asked me to help her remember how it was made. Though she spoke limited English and I spoke limited Norwegian, we were able to converse through our shared fluency in fibers.