Fragment (To Store), 2023, Thread, thread cores, staples, wax on wood panel, 63 x 42 x 6 inches, Photo credit: Mario Gallucci

The design of this work is based on a cropped section of a Cherokee basket pattern. The title references the importance of basketweaving in our culture and history. Sadly, the skill of basketmaking was lost in my family. As an artist who can’t weave, I only allude to weaving. The piece is comprised of spools of industrial sewing thread that have been sliced apart to expose the individual strands. The spool cores around which the thread was wrapped, are also cut apart and inserted back to form the spine-like stacks that wobble in and out like Brancusi’s endless column. I often work with shades of red to refer to the complicated issues around blood quantum that even to this day inform certain Native American tribal enrollments. The act of cutting something apart down to its core, effectively destroying its original function, but then reforming into a beautiful lush object reflects my interest in how things that are broken or disrupted are often still viable and lively.