ARTIST STATEMENT, TWO TEXTILE WORKS: Each of these two works began as drawings of people I know. They were digitally altered before printing onto a linen blend fabric.

In Long Hours, Hard Work, 1920, the textile material and the stitching are a direct reference to “women’s work” and specifically to the immigrant women who toiled in New York City’s garment industry during that time in history. The woman’s face was first embroidered with a subtle range of grey-blues, greens, and violets. And then, the artwork sat, unfinished for a very long time, as I folded and refolded the fabric, cropping it different ways, adding and subtracting other collage elements. I hung it on the wall, making changes over and over, waiting for it to “speak” to me, to say what I had in my heart. It wasn’t until I inserted the irregular rows of sharp steel pins that the work came alive for me. The rest of the work—the immigration ephemera, the bits of thread and needles, all fell into place.

Out of Reach began in the same way as Long Hours, Hard Work, 1920, although the embroidery on the figures mainly highlights the edges. Looking closely, one can see images of my own family’s life—something that probably seems fairly ordinary. We take these things for granted. A couple is married. Their children/grandchildren are free to choose the directions their lives will take. Heavily embroidered in black is the classic opening phrase for a fairy tale “Once Upon a Time.” The entire embroidery is obscured by a thick metal barrier, the stitching and soft textile background cannot be touched. Hovering overhead is a gold and glass box, locked and wrapped with chains. Barely visible inside the box are two unattainable house keys.