clotting factor + red flags

red flags is a series of textile constructions that I began in the depths of 2020 as two-dimensional stitched samplers. They are both meticulous and messy; there are passages of conventional needlecraft and garment construction technique, but then the orderly stitches get enlisted in weird little tasks, like embroidering both sides of the fabric at once. The work is technically challenging and deeply engrossing, and the materials are rich, gorgeous, and pleasant to the hand. Some of my projects involve lengthy academic research, historical sources, and long observation; these soft works are less intellectual and more introspective, but they also partake of that parallel processing of art work and brain work. The physical process of creation and craft takes up the top of the mind while bigger and less tractable problems get worked out in the depths. These objects aren’t therapeutic or (god forbid) diaristic, but I hope that they invite contemplation, and speak to that interior where all the things that are larger than language live.

clotting factor (2023) is the culminating work in this series. The objects in the sampler have broken containment and are hovering in space — are they helping mend a wound, or are they blocking a crucial artery?