(Everybody Deserves) The Chance to Soar

Techniques and materials: Pieced and quilted African print batik, machine embroidery, hand stitching.

Artwork statement: As may be obvious in (Everybody Deserves) The Chance to Soar, I enjoy mixing vivid colors and bold patterns, often those that derive from world cultures with long textile traditions. African prints are no exception, even if many of them are imported from elsewhere. (More evidence of our interdependent, global reality.) Although African prints are often large in scale, seeing how smaller fragments of those patterns play with (or against) each other can sometimes lead to delightful, if unexpected, results.

For many, a work of art, especially the abstract variety, can function as a projective device (an ambiguous image to which people can offer their unrestricted response); the ink blot test, is the classic example. Whether those responses offer insight into the workings of the unconscious is, perhaps, debatable. However, in this case as I was hand stitching the details, I kept seeing an object soaring over a landscape that reminded me of all the hindrances and constraints human beings often place on those they consider “others.” Having spent most of my 40+ year career advancing inclusive excellence in institutions of higher education, perhaps my interpretation was inevitable. My thoughts aside, where does this piece take you? Does it make you uneasy? Ecstatic? Calm? What narrative can you offer?

Purchase inquiries welcome!