“We can in fact only define a weed, mutatis mutandis, in terms of the well-known definition of dirt - as matter out of place. What we call a weed is in fact merely a plant growing where we do not want it.” - E.J. Salisbury, The Living Garden, 1935
Weeds are often defined as a plant in the wrong place, yet roadside plants and weeds can convey bravery, vulnerability and resilience when considering their ability to thrive despite their environment. They can appear both wild and beautiful, simultaneously emerging seemingly misplaced yet bravely anchored in place. Using roadside flora as a metaphor, I am investigating the human need for belonging and what that means through the creation of this series of textile work.
Humans need to belong, to feel they are an integral and needed part of a place or community. Yet, this feeling of belonging does not that always come easily, even within a populated place or social group. Foraging and stitching roadside plants has provided time to consider what it means to belong and has fostered an empathy for others that find themselves similarly longing to belong.
For this project, I have combined digital printing, eco-printing, and various forms of stitching. Digital printing and layering field images using fabric and paper impregnated with wildflower seeds helped me to process the plants through my gaze. Alternatively, eco-prints created with singular elements of the flora provided examination of the marks produced by the plant itself. The stitching is a mix of quilting, a textile technique steeped in a rich heritage of community, and intricate silk and metal embroidery.
By isolating the plant images and exploring various methods of layering, these compositions use the study of roadside flora and their perceived characteristics to question what it means and how it feels to struggle with the human need to belong. Through this series of work, I hope to convey how weeds can provide a metaphor for individuals searching for a sense of belonging in the places they inhabit.
This is an on going series of work….
Each of the weeds represented in this series was a weed that I found, photographed, sketched, and then stitched. As I stitched the pieces in cloth, I thought it would be interested to play around with the images I had taken in a different way. I started experimenting with printing my images on paper impregnated with wildflower seeds as I was intrigued with the idea that I could bury the embroidery and what would remain is my stitching and the ground material (the paper) would disintegrate and create wildflowers. It also gave me an interesting challenge to consider how I could, with stitching, reinterpret or emphasize the imagery of the plants. Further pieces play around with layering the paper with related images printed on sheer fabrics as a way to “control” where the seeds could grow. As I pondered the need for human belonging, the question of what constrains the feeling of belonging arose. Exterior factors can all appear related and yet the feeling of belonging, of finding a place to thrive, can still be out of reach, repressed, and harnessed.
As this series is a continuation of my Weeds Embroidery Collection, I have included images below of all the pieces installed together for my show at Caldwell County Arts Council in October 2019.
