This semester, my painting research revolved around textile and pattern, specifically as a way of measuring time.

I’m interested in what textile and pattern tell us about memory. As physical objects, they last beyond our memories of them, and even beyond us ourselves. Though their physicality is everlasting, textile and pattern are increasingly influenced by consumerism. Styles that are aesthetically “in” remain in fashion until they’re “out.” Textile and pattern often act as a way of telling time in the way their decade (or even year) of origin is often evident.

Textile and pattern also tell time in that they are tied to domestic life. Fast fashion and home decor has made elements of art accessible through pattern and design. However, when I think back to the decades of my grandparents and great-grandparents, textile had a different relationship to home. Works of fabric (clothing, bedding, tablecloths, etc.) held more value then due to scarcity, and more value now as we view them as heirlooms. In this research, I’ve considered if the textile and pattern works of my generation would (or could) have the same effect.

In thinking of textile and pattern, I also consider the weight of the history they hold. I see this aspect of memory as also tied to themes of domesticity. Clothing, bedding, etc. can often be categorized as used, new, worn, “pre-loved,” “tags-still-on,” mended, out of style, hated, or beloved. Textile and pattern’s proximity to our lives allow them to move alongside time.

In this, I’ve considered our study of vanitas in Painting 1, specifically elements of “about to happen” or “just happened.” Many of my painting investigations are centered not only around textile and pattern, but around disruption, disorientation, and/or absence.

Over the course of the semester, I read and viewed artists such as: textile artist Mia Weiner; artist Joan Linder; quilter E. A. Cox; and painter Jodi Hays.