“I can’t believe all these women who make these beautiful quilts!” another artist said to me. “They are just meant to cover up all the horrors and abuse in the world.” This statement has haunted me since it was made in an art class, only somewhat in jest. Should I apologize for making an object of beauty? The more I pondered these words, the more I came to realize that for me, making art is the process not of covering up, but of uncovering what beauty there is in the world. The yearning of my spirit to touch this beauty is my motivation. Yes, art can be a powerful tool to create awareness, but awareness of injustice or violence is not the only awareness humans need. I hope my fiber pieces will create an emotional response in the viewer—not always joy, but perhaps poignancy or wonder.

My work is primarily driven by a passion for color interactions, the illusions they create, the luminosity they can bring to a surface. I love creating my own palette of fabric through painting, dyeing, and other surface design processes, which can include discharge, shibori, stamping, screening, and foiling. My goal in design is to have a piece that intrigues the viewer at first glance, and then continues to reveal surprises upon every inspection. For me, a perfectly successful quilt is one in which the line is simple and elegant, the color has luminosity and depth, the technique supports the work, the stitching adds beauty and a level of detail, and the piece as a whole evokes a powerful response in the viewer, but the meaning is somewhat ambiguous or mysterious, not absolutely spelled out.