Untied in 19 Pieces. Solo Exhibition at Praxis Fiber Workshop Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio. (2015)

This work is suffused with memory, and is meant to communicate a formal metaphor for memory. The silk sculptures hold the memory of objects that were tied into them, dyed, dried, and then untied. This process, grounded in traditional Japanese shibori, creates shapes and colors that “remember” the absent objects and resisted colors after their removal. I chose 19 as a parameter to organize the work; each piece contains the number 19 in various permutations.

The drawings are loosely based on the sculptures – and many of them were executed in their first draft in 19 minutes. I used the sculptures to derive compositional information, then took the drawings away from the sculptures and developed them independently. I have long observed how my sculptures cast shadows, creating ghosts that perform like ephemeral drawings of light and shadow. So, moving into a graphite, 2D realm seemed like an natural, if vulnerable, step to take.

We lost our daughter and sister, Emma Rose Coleman, at age 19: 4 short, and 4 very long years ago. Grief like this unravels one from one’s core. Thinking about her, and using objects from environments familiar to our family, both at home in Oberlin and on the Oregon coast, permeate the slow work of building a sculpture: wrapping and unwrapping objects into fabric with thread, creating a continuum of repeated tying, coloring and untying. The final, metaphorically powerful, task was to take 19 dissembled pieces and reconfigure them into a new whole.

I extend my gratitude to my husband Randy and my son Schuyler, who are my heart and soul, and my co-keepers of Emma’s memory. I thank my dear friend and colleague, the irrepressible Jessica Pinsky, for honoring me with an opportunity to share this work here, in this beautiful space. And always, many thanks to my generous circle of family, friends, colleagues and students, who constitute the best of communities.

Photography by the artist.