Portfolio: Kasaya Series
The imagery in my work has evolved from many years of collecting ethnic textiles. I am interested in how textiles shape cultural identity and how, in connection with our bodies and surroundings, they compile and transmit the story of human activity through time. Over the years, a textile-based lexicon of structures and conceptual associations has become the language of my work.
Patchwork is the ancient tradition of piecing used textile scraps together to construct larger pieces of cloth and clothing. This process, often employed by resourceful people without means, is found in cultures all over the world. Its meaning and structure vary widely. In the American South quilters make bed coverings from the clothing of the deceasedas a way to remember them. And in Tibet lamas demonstrate their humility by stitching together scraps to make their cloaks. The cloaks are called Kasaya.
The stories embodied in their structures and patterns are the genesis of this body of work.
