2019
hand-dyed cotton, fabric paint, thread
4ft 8in x 4ft 8in x 5in
2018
Approximately 12ft x 4ft; dimensions variable on installation
Powermesh, resin, synthetic dye
Installed at Military Reserve, Boise, ID
Tetrahedrons are very simple three dimensional shapes but can be magnified or shrunk to fit together. They are used to digitally map the volume of hard to measure spaces such as caverns and pockets underneath the earth’s surface. I like to use them in my work because systems such as community is difficult to measure.
We place a lot of importance on social structures such as community and our relationships to the environment yet we’re defining how we think about those things. These structures would exist regardless of whether we decide to define them. They transcend our assumptions and definitions.
Converge I
2018
30in x 27in x 4in
Converge II
2019
32in x 18in x 4in
Series ongoing
I am a fiber artist because I inherited it matrilineally. My mother, great grandmother, and great-great grandmother all sewed, quilted, knitted, or crocheted. My family history is rooted in the mountains. This design is based off of a quilt block on one of my mother’s quilts. It is reimagined on a three-dimensional surface to represent the convergence of a family history tied deeply to a mountainous landscape.
2018
Hand-made, scrap, and tracing paper, newsprint, indigo, silk yarn
Installed in the foothills of Pocatello, ID
I am inspired by landscapes. Unititled (Context) was the first iteration of placing a made object in the space it was influenced by. When it is exhibited, it is done so next to photograph displaying its full context.
2017
Quilted cotton, thread
21in x 39in x 6in
Revitalize was made as I was leaving for Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts for a summer internship. It is a reflection on how a community and support-system of makers can revitalize practice, place, and creators.
2017
Free-motion quilted cotton, hand-dyed eco-felt
48in x 132in x 23in
Comprised of five quilts
My work references social constructions. These are fluid concepts and because of this, I am concerned with how my work adapts to spaces and to its viewers. It is an extension of how I carry content into form. Confer can adapt to any space. As pictured it is 12ft long by 4ft high.
2018
5ft 6in x 5ft 6in x 2.5in
Hand-dyed quilted cotton, fabric paint, thread, clay
Yellowstone is close enough to my parents’ home that it has become almost synonymous with that place. My mom is a quilter. I visit home near the holidays when it is bitterly cold in southeast Idaho—a time when quilts are most cherished and needed. This deconstructed rendition of time and memory is not for keeping warm but rather recognizing the beauty and harshness that walk hand in hand in the landscape of a past home. .
PVC pipe, hand-dyed yarn, paper clay, hand-dyed eco-felt
2017-2018
Installed at Idaho State University's John B. Davis Gallery
I make work about communities, social networks, and systems. I draw influence from landscape and topography to communicate ideas around the social structures we influence and are influenced by. Drawing heavily on craft and anthropological theories, I contextualize my work within these disciplines and use installation and experience-based work to further ideas around community and constructed spaces.
Entropy is the culmination of my graduate work at Idaho State University. My written thesis can be found here.
Aggress
2016
Hand-dyed Eco-felt, hardware cloth, zip ties
29in x 53in x 4in
Cardstock, letterpress printed cardstock
2017
Installed at Frontier Space Gallery, Missoula, MT
2016
Installation at Idaho State University's Transition Gallery
Fleece
34in x 34in, 96in at longest point
Bamboo/cotton yarn, flax roving, bamboo rayon roving, synthetic dyes
2016
Shroud reflects the turmoil and resistance we face when healing from loss and grief. Created in honor of a previous student who took her own life, Shroud traces my healing process. Reflecting upon the connections between decomposition, decay, grief, and healing, Shroud consists of loose and tight weaving, different widths of yarn and holes interspersed in the tapestry.
At the bottom of the piece, there is a looseness and the dullness to the color of the fibers but as the eye progress upwards, the weaving becomes tighter and fuller—there are fewer holes and the color is increasing in vibrancy. There is a progression between something that is dead and stagnant and something that is becoming increasingly more alive—is changing. This reflects and traces healing processes.
84in x 24in x 12in
Recycled plastic and chiffon polyester dyed with synthetic dye and Portneuf River water
2016
Aquifer is heavily influenced by trauma that is inflicted upon the environment by humans. Using Portneuf River water and recycled materials, the piece’s materials are conceptually tied to its belonging within my oeuvre. Yet the piece itself also speaks volumes about what we choose to see or what we can readily see. Aquifers exist beneath the surface of the earth and can be difficult to determine in size and magnitude. So much of what impacts our environment is hidden—it is an iceberg’s bottom that we can’t easily see.
Revere Suede Soft White cotton paper, davey board, book cloth, embroidery floss.
Screenprinted and embossed on a Whelan press.
8.5in x 3.5in x 1.25in (21.5in when open)
2016
Collapse, an artist’s book is about the depth in which we must look in order to fully understand what is going on around us. Much of collective environment is beneath the surface and by truly listening and reflecting, we can find those spaces where most never contemplate. These hidden spaces and dimensions beneath and above our world fascinate me.
2016
Installation at Idaho State University's Fine Arts Building, 4th Floor
Paper tetrahedrons
52in x 94in x 10in, 112in at longest point
Handmade bamboo paper, pine
2015
Scarred is a play upon preservation and decay. Comprised of monochromatic, handmade bamboo paper tubes, the piece is meant to reflect the movement and change within landscape. The shorter parts of the piece create a canyon in the otherwise tall and fluid tubes. Reminiscent of topography, it makes us question what has happened to the middle of the piece and what could have impacted it so significantly. The pieces around the middle scar are interacting with this trauma as they pull away from the center. However, this movement is meant to continue. One day, when the landscape heals, those pieces so strongly angled agains the center may one day slowly move back. There is a healing within the landscape even as trauma has occurred. And yet within the piece itself trauma is not inherently apparent. Trauma influences my work but is not always represented in it. There is a calmness, a serenity that accompanies the preservation and mourning and healing that is serves as a continuation throughout my pieces.
2016
Intaglio solarplate with embroidery
2016
Intaglio solarplate with hand dyed eco felt and embroidery
2016
Installation at Idaho State University's Fine Art Building, 3rd Floor
Reclaimed polyester string, dye
2016
Recycled plastic, naturally dyed cotton, dirt, wood
102in x 84in x 36in
In honor of my grandmother, Barbara Robinson-Wilcox.
Expel
2016
Bamboo/cotton yarn, synthetic dyes
