translation series

September 2020 - Update

Over the past month, I’ve been writing, painting, cross-stitching, and finishing two new video works. I’ve been working on my proposal, budget and supplemental responses for the Canada Council Research & Creation Grant. Now that I’ve received edits and feedback from a few peers, the next step will be for me to work on revisions.

I’ve also been working on the second painting in the Translation series, painting one 1/4 inch square at a time. I’ve been trying to figure out what the final presentation or form this series will take. I think I’ve landed on the decision to combine all 9 pieces into a stitched (quilt-like) grid. I’m interested in the juxtaposition of using the medium of painting and combining it with female craft-based processes. I’ll do this by using a needle and thread to hand sew the painted pieces on canvas together.

I completed another cross-stitch piece System Failure 02, which is part of a series of three I’m currently working on. The cross-stitched images are partially “unfinished” in order to give the appearance that it is “glitched”. I like to think of them as glitches within glitches. The second glitch or system failure refers to the glitch that occurs when the human machine (me, the artist) executes the project.

System Failure 02, 8x10 inches, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 2020

System Failure 02, 8x10 inches, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 2020

Lastly, I’ve finished two new video works below. Part 1: Introduction - What Am I? interrogates the definition of artist, machine, and woman. The video documents a month long process where even rows of white thread are cross-stitched for a few minutes each day. At the onset of my menstrual cycle, I proceed to unstitch and undo all of the work that was done prior. There are pressures and expectations that come with being a woman and an artist. As a woman, it’s embedded in my biology to reproduce, but that doesn’t mean that I will. The audio track that plays throughout the video poses questions surrounding productivity and ponders what it means to go against what is typically expected of a programmed machine. As an artist if I’m not producing work, I often feel guilty, as though I am ignoring the very thing that I am programmed to do. Can I be an artist and a woman and not produce? Or does this go against the very nature of my existence?

Part 2: What Happens to a Stressed System? shows how societal pressures that come from being an artist, machine, and woman, can lead to an overwhelmed system that is doomed to fail. The video begins with a functioning system of productivity, consistency, and archival documentation. As the video progresses, glitches begin to integrate and disrupt the flow of the system in both the video and audio components of the piece.

May 2020 - Update

I’ve been quarantined at home for 6 weeks now, due to Covid-19, but I’m still working remotely full-time. Over the past month, I’ve been working on another Glitch Series, Glitch Series 05. When I initially started Glitch Series 01 back in 2017, I had always thought that I would finish the series by stitching them together in quilt-like fashion. However, somewhere along the way, my thought process changed. Thus, I ended up presenting the work as a diptych, showing each digital and cross-stitched image in a double-window matted frame.

Glitch Series 01 - Crop_5.jpg, 16”x20”, archival inkjet print, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 2017

In September, at the Vermont Studio Centre, I started a new body of work titled the Translation Series. Since then, I’ve been contemplating the final presentation of this work and I’m still unsure of how it will look in the end. I recently remembered the cross-stitch quilt idea I had for the Glitch Series and thought this could be the direction to take for this series.

Vermont Studio Center, September 2019

Therefore, I decided I would test this quilt idea with the latest Glitch Series 05, as a sort of maquette. I’m hoping that once I complete this “quilt”, I’ll see whether it is successful or not as a means of presentation for my cross-stitched work. This weekend I finished cross-stitching the 9th piece for Glitch Series 05. The next step will be figuring out how to stitch the grid together. I’m anticipating it will be a process of trial and error, but I’m excited to push myself to try something outside of my comfort zone.

(Work in progress) Glitch Series 05 , 2 1/8” x 2 1/8” (each), embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 2020

Lastly, here’s another progress shot of Stitching Loose Ends. This is an ongoing piece where I’m cross-stitching loose threads that are leftover from other projects. I’m always looking for ways to reduce waste in my art practice, as well as everyday life.

Stitching Loose Ends (progress shot), 2018-2020, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 16 inches wide x 2 5/8 inches thick

Kicking off the New Year!

I haven’t been posting much lately about my art practice and that’s mainly due to a busy last couple of months at my day job. This post will be short and simple, so that I can quickly share a few photos of some work that was wrapped up at the end of 2019.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe that the year 2020 has now started!

Pattern E (front view), 2019, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches

Translation #5 - Cross-Stitch, 2019, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 6 x 6 inches

Pattern E (back view), 2019, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches

Translation #6 - Cross-Stitch, 2019, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 6 x 6 inches


October 2019 - Update

The month of October was spent adjusting back to real life with a full-time day job. I found I still had lots of motivation left over from the residency and I was able to get a solid amount of work done. I completed another cross-stitch in the Translation Series, a painting from the Paint by Numbers Series, added a couple rows to Stitching Loose Ends and submitted to several galleries for shows in the new year, as well as an artist residency in France.

Pattern D (front view), 2019, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches

Pattern D (front view), 2019, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches

Pattern D (back view), 2019, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches

Pattern D (back view), 2019, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches

Stitching Loose Ends, work in progress (2018-2019), embroidery floss, Aida cloth

Stitching Loose Ends, work in progress (2018-2019), embroidery floss, Aida cloth

I also started to work on an old photography project I started back in 2017 while I was finishing up my MFA in Winnipeg. The idea behind the project was to shoot roll of film with a list of pre-established camera-settings. Therefore, each frame had an assigned f-stop and shutter speed. This further expands my approach to creating art as a machine through a new medium, using analog photography. The photos from the project were all printed in the darkroom at U of M, but now I’m planning to assemble them into a handmade book.

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Lately my weekend routine consists of running errands on Saturdays, doing household chores on Sundays, cross-stitching, Netflixing, and taking in the beautiful sun rays in my apartment.

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Translation #4 - Cross-Stitch (detail), 2019, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 6 x 6 inches

Translation #4 - Cross-Stitch (detail), 2019, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 6 x 6 inches

Translation #4- Paint By Numbers, 2019, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 4 x 4 inches and Translation #4 - Cross-Stitch, 2019, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 6 x 6 inches

Translation #4- Paint By Numbers, 2019, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 4 x 4 inches and Translation #4 - Cross-Stitch, 2019, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 6 x 6 inches