Project Description

10″ x 10″

Mixed media on wood

This piece is one of a series that emerged from a set of 100 letters written by my grandfather while he was a young soldier serving in the US Army during World War I.  I never met my grandfather. He was a tailor by trade and I, too, work creatively with my hands and fabrics. By placing his letters together with my fabrics, it’s as if the two of us are in conversation in the current moment. My hope is to capture something about this connection of hands, hearts and DNA. In doing so, I aim to reflect the larger themes of belonging and love in one’s ancestral lineage, to suggest that we are ALL in conversation with our past (whether it’s conscious or not), and to offer the radical suggestion that perhaps we can heal family wounds backwards in time.

The small scale of the work underscores the intimate nature of this conversation and reflection.

$295