Fabric is the ideal analogue for skin—soft, pliable, permeable. In making my pieces, I usually start with a thin porous white fabric (cotton or linen)—much like I would a canvas for painting— and paint it. I create a lot of large “swatches” in many colors to use as a palette to source from.  Working like I would a painting, I cut small pieces replicating strokes and layering them, one on top of the other, I slowly build color relationships and volume. I connect them by sewing neat even stitched rows. I sometimes use historical references in terms of subject matter—extracting details from masterpiece paintings and through scale change and material treatment they begin to embody the narrative of the original. The subjects I choose always have origins in some physical element or detail. How I cut things is important—crisp, incisive snips into whatever material I am working with, cutting is important as it creates an empty shape and a positive remnant at the same time. I often integrate the remnants back into the work.

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