B.A. Studio Arts 2021 Coastal Carolina University
Rest
“This work is a love letter to my many past selves to thank them for carrying this body to the present.”
Rest
80” x 90” x 5”
Rest is a latch-hook soft sculpture which seeks to understand elements of the past in relation to the present to reconcile instability from a perspective of balance and self-forgiveness. The bedroom is a place of intimacy and warmth, an image of homemaking. The full-scale constructed image of safety and contentment is comprised of artifacts of the past – hair from my shaved head, shirts from ex-boyfriends, sheets from my old apartments. Each artifact carries the weight of memory, trauma, and instability found in the hardships of young adulthood. These elements are incorporated into the weave of the rug symbolizing the importance of the past on our current understanding of the present, something one should not and cannot forget.
Up close, the artifacts reveal a story lying underneath the image of the bedroom, creating a total narrative which displays the influence of the past within one’s current celebration of the here and now. Each latch of the rug is hand looped with a memory in mind, metaphorically recreating a microcosm of the past. Through the process of building the work, each echo of the past is relived within a balanced mindset of the present, giving new context to former struggles. This allows for moments of self-forgiveness and reconciliation, releasing my resentment and hatred of previous versions of myself. This work is a love letter to my many past selves to thank them for carrying this body to the present.