Non-Traditional Quilts and Knitting

Since 2012 I have been knitting and working on more 2D- based fiber pieces. ​

Held (The Willies Quilt) 2019 is a wall piece made out of The Willies sculptures that I was making in 2018.

They Left You Alone With Your Body 2019 is a large wall piece that features test, machine embroidery and body-esque embelishments.

Metamorphosis of an Era was made in 2018 out of many of my own old clothes. The text is part of a quote taken from Paul B. Preciado’s book Testo Junkie: Sex, Drugs, and Biopolitics in the Pharmacopornographic Era. The passage aims to reconcile the multiple lives and histories both visible and invisible of trans* and gender non-binary folks, especially in regards to trans masculine people and feminism. This quilt is made partially of some of my own old clothes from high school and college, revealing some of my own past histories.

The full quote reads:

“How can I explain what is happening to me? What can I do about my desire for transformation? What can I do about all the years I defined myself as a feminist? What kind of feminist am I today: a feminist hooked on testosterone, or a transgender body hooked on feminism? I have no other alternative but to revise my classics, to subject those theories to the shock that was provoked in me by the practice of taking testosterone. To accept the fact that the change happening in me is the metamorphosis of an era.”​

Following Metamorphosis is a piece called The Couch Project. This is a large (84" x 64") quilt made up of individually knitted "posters". I knitted all of these pieces over a 5 year span. Never intending for these to be shown publicly, I thought of my knitting as a private "craft away from studio craft" practice. The text is taken from song lyrics, horoscopes, novels, and other pieces of culture that I was passively consuming over this time. These pieces also happened to be knit while I was seeking and then starting to take testosterone. this part of my journey as a trans/non-binary person is reflected in the content of much of the text. ​

Next is a piece called Metamorphosis of an Era II. Made in 2018, it is a work in progress that aims to document the language of protest signs carried in recent political marches. These signs were chosen because of their messages specifically aimed to further 'trans rights'. This piece aims to capture the current political moment as it pertains to gender in this country.​

Finally, the last three pieces featured here are Put Some Sugar in My Tank, Candy Ass, and Daisy Picker. These are three pieces from a series of collecting colloquialisms that denote someone or something as 'queer'. These phrases are then knitted into posters that use text and imagery to further code the expression. This series begun in 2014.

Text-Based Work