Inhaling the Spore
This body of work was shown in my solo exhibition "Paper, Fabric and Flesh" at the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, NE in 2021.
The title “Inhaling the Spore” comes from my personal experience with my youngest son, who became sick and developed a tumor on his lymph node after inhaling a spore of rare mycobacteria at the age of two. I made my son a quilt to wear during his surgery and hospital stay. The process of creating the quilt was carried through this work as a metaphor, both for his altered and sewn body, as well as for the fragmented nature of our understanding of the way that we relate to our environment. I also came to see the act of randomly inhaling an invisible trespasser as a way of symbolizing swift and invasive change in our world. I have a new understanding of how we are both inextricably linked to and in opposition to our environment, threatening our own health.