The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Alphabetized  list of victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Saturday March 25, 1911.
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/triangle/trianglevictims2.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire

The Museum of Extraordinary Things

"...Perhaps this was her rightful fate, to be eaten alive by a fierce beast, a proper penance for her crimes. She closed her eyes and tried to still her heart. If her life was over, so be it. She would be nothing but glimmering bones scattered beneath the brambles, and the strands of her hair would be taken by sparrows to use in their nests.
     The wolf stood in a hollow, eyeing her, but she must have appeared worthless, for it shifted back into the woods." p. 33, The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman.

More Avocado

This marks my second batch of avocado dye. Still not using any mordant-my same recipe from last time, but with maybe five or six more pits.  This time I left the pits in while the fabric soaked, and it has seemed to create these sort of marks and clouds. Another thing I did differently was after taking the fabric out of the dye bath and hanging it to dry, I soaked it in a mixture of half vinegar half water to set it. I left it in there for two nights. The pic below was snapped after removing it from the vinegar mixture and while it was drying.

Textiles Curatorial Internship at the Baltimore Museum of Art

I am so lucky to be able to say that I was chosen to be the summer and fall Textiles Curatorial Intern at the Baltimore Museum of Art. I will be working for the Textiles Curator Anita Jones. I went into the museum two weeks ago to watch the install of their latest exhibit Kimono and Obi: Romantic Echoes From Japan's Golden Age . I could not have asked for a more incredible exhibit to come in on.

Photo Courtesy of the BMA:Kimono Furisode 1912-1989, Taisho (1912-1926) or Showa (1926-1989). Japan. Gift of Mrs. D.M. Cheston, Baltimore 1990.113

In Progress

Detail shots of a drawing in progress. 

Autobiography of a Geisha

" In fact, at that very moment I was walking toward the event that would determine the rest of my life: I was to be sold as a geisha. Yet even if I had not been sold as a geisha, for someone like me, there could never be any road to happiness.

Even now it fills me with anger: I want to rage against the miserable lives we lead, those of us who are born into this world as blots of sin because of a parent's irresponsibility; I want to cry out that a life like mine must never be repeated. No matter how deep in disgrace, a human being is human, after all. The human spirit wanders ceaselessly in search of light; and if it finds a light of some sort, it strives somehow to get near it, struggling, writhing in anguish. Yet even as it writhes in anguish, it is drowned before it reaches the light. If you have the heart of a human being and you become the parent of a human being, then even if it exhausts every bit of your energy, until that child can walk alone I want you to do your duty as a parent."

p. 18, Autobiography of a Geisha by Sayo Masuda

This book made such an impact on me. I highly recommend reading it. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/70048.Autobiography_of_a_Geisha

Nkisi Nkondi

 A Nkisi Nkondi power figure is a magical charm in the shape of a person or animal created and used in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nkisi is loosely translated as 'spirit' but is represented by a container that, through substances in the vessel, can summon and bring supernatural forces into the physical realm. The plural form is minkisi. The Nkisi Nkondi can act as oath holders or to resolve verbal disputes called mambu. They are carved and activated by a nganga, a spiritual specialist, and are activated using prayers, chants, etc. They are recognized by being in either the shape of a human or animal, with lots of insertions of nails, pegs, sharp metal pieces, or other sharp objects. Bilongo, medicinal combinations, are sometimes kept in the head but mostly in the stomach of the figure where they are protected by either a piece of glass or mirror. The glass or mirror is considered a portal to the otherworld and spirits can look out through their world to ours. Seeds and white soil deposits found near cemeteries summon the spirits to enlist their help. The insertions are put in by the nganga, and the different materials used represent the severity of the offense. If an oath is broken or something happens to one of the participants, then the nkisi nkondi is activated to either offer divine protection or to carry out some sort of destruction.  https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-africa/central-africa/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/a/nkisi-nkondi Pictures above are from a case containing Nkisi Nkondi power figures in the Baltimore Museum of Art.

I was invited by my former professor, artist and mentor Laura Mongiovi to be a part of The Nkisi Project curated by Sarah Rockett , Tammi Brazee, and Peter Yumi. Myself and 66 other artists created our own version of a Nkisi Nkondi power figure representative of our community. It could be no larger than 1 square foot. We were also asked to include a one sentence statement of what we would like manifested with our object. Pictured below is my contribution. The pink fabric is some of the avocado dyed fabric I included in an earlier post. My one sentence statement was:Through the insertion of pins into the pillow, the ability for a person to explore, travel, and connect with others is enacted. 

I am so thankful that Laura, who was both a participant this year and in earlier installations, thought to invite me. And that Sarah accepted! The show is currently on view at 965 Gallery at the Center for Visual Arts in Denver, CO.