Textiles for Men and
Machine Breakers
The work for Textiles for Men and Machine Breakers is anchored in the idea that the history of craftsmanship is central to the formation of contemporary gender identities. These monumental works illustrate the persistent connections between masculinity, technology, and labor, and evoke the prehistory of industrialization—when the dignified labor of artisanal production was central to both masculine and feminine identity—while testifying to the dislocations and possibilities inherent in the more recent “feminization" of craft and the changing role of men in the domestic sphere.
Employing textile production and embellishment techniques—quiltmaking, embroidery, knitting, crochet, screenprinting, and block printing—in combination with incongruous materials such as burlap, VHS tape, plastic, wire, and wax, I create hybrid works that are both inside and outside of the modern, industrial world. With their size and complexity, these works evoke both the immensity of technological change and the transformative visions that challenge it.