In the midst of a pandemic, when faced with this surreal reality, we struggle to find “normal”. As an artist, the creative process provides my outlet. It’s how I process the craziness and find balance.
In the case of the Nostalgia pieces, part of my “roots” series, I was able to briefly regress to childhood, basking for a few moments in its naïveté. Playing with bright colors and timeless candy wrappers, the viewer is whisked away to a simpler time. While nothing can truly make these unique circumstances feel normal, I found respite when weaving these pieces. As with others in this series, the roots symbolize our connection to family and community, which have taken on additional significance in the midst of these challenging times.
Typically, from one piece to the next there’s a visible progression to my thought process. The Nostalgia pieces, by contrast, are quite similar in both appearance and message. Through Nostalgia 1 I began sublimation, but felt the process was incomplete. As such, I felt compelled to continue with a second piece, Nostalgia 2. As a result, these tapestries are inextricably linked as two parts of the same journey and, therefore, are intended as a pair.