What we feel we cannot say…

This series arose out of the overwhelming waves of emotions, feelings, and states of being of the COVID-19 pandemic years (well, really since at least 2015, and personally more likely 2010). The ways we hold, hide, reveal, and project them, and how they a/effect us (“e” because they create results in us, sometimes permanently) and our relationships with others.

The process of stitching these is as important as the product, if not more so. The time it takes to stitch, the meditative nature of the repetitive motion, and the focus it takes to pay attention the the direction one is stitching and attempt to keep the thread as even as possible, all provided space in which to ponder these words that fall far short of what they gesture towards. I took process shots of these, which I plan to create some stop-motion videos with, to show a bit of the process. And, yes, I DID stitch white on white and black on black, and YES, it was a challenge to my eyes!

Each is a field of solid colored stitches, with a word in the midst of the array. The only difference is that I crossed the stitch in the opposite way to form the word(s), so the light falls on it slightly differently from various angles. It hides and reveals itself, depending on your perspective.