In my current project, Wearing, I unravel the braided rugs common in old houses, to make them into what they may have been. Through this work I acknowledge the labor of anonymous women makers through time. Braided rugs were made by working class women from moth-eaten coats, worn blankets and clothing; their wear reveals the imprint of humanity going about their daily lives. I unbraid each rug, then press and sew the strips into cloth. The unbraiding reveals a myriad hidden patterns and exuberant hues. Lines of dotted holes indicate the years of tread marks eroding the fabric. Leopard-like spots of dirt pressed into the exposed parts of the braids reveal human movement through time. The process of making these is something like an excavation, uncovering what the rugs hide in between their braids, and admiring the craft and labor of each anonymous maker. I keep the remaining original rug tethered to the object, to allude to the cyclical nature of materials and shifting boundaries of the objects and their lives. Often I make pieces with specific women in mind, from historic to contemporary, and I invite contemporary artists to model the pieces, connecting and listening to voices past and present — fragile and strong, loud, seething and quiet; no longer invisible.
I pieced this tent from worn braided rugs and pitched it on a ridge at the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming, in acknowledgment of our ongoing refugee crisis and displacement of peoples, including the Cheyenne, Crow, and Lakota nations. The holes in the fabric, revealed when I unravel each braid, are from the wear of feet over time.
The garments surrounding the rug were made from it. This magnificent space at the Art Center at Duck Creek opened a rethinking of the installation as a site of contemplation and transcendence. The rug at center echoes the form of of a rose window in a Gothic cathedral while the restored barn acts as a facade. All the garments surrounding the piece hover around the suspended rug, and are fabricated from it. I chose not to tether the garments to the rug to express an experience beyond the physical.
A worn braided rug was unbraided, pressed, pieced together into fabric & then made into an article of clothing that may have been cut up for the rug. The holes are from the passage of footprints over time, the dirt spots reveal the unhidden surface of the braid.
A worn braided rug was unbraided, pressed, pieced together into fabric & then made into an article of clothing that may have been cut up for the rug. The holes are from the passage of footprints over time, the dirt spots reveal the unhidden surface of the braid.
A worn braided rug was unbraided, pressed, pieced together into fabric & then made into an article of clothing that may have been cut up for the rug. The holes are from the passage of footprints over time, the dirt spots reveal the unhidden surface of the braid.
This rug is mostly cotton and dates from the 1960s. I pieced all the strips into sections of fabric to create yardage--fabric purchased to make the shirts, table covers and curtains this maker cut up for the rug.
A worn braided rug was unbraided, pressed, pieced together into fabric & then made into an article of clothing that may have been cut up for the rug. The holes are from the passage of footprints over time, the dirt spots reveal the unhidden surface of the braid.
A worn braided rug was unbraided, pressed, pieced together into fabric & then made into an article of clothing that may have been cut up for the rug. The holes are from the passage of footprints over time, the dirt spots reveal the unhidden surface of the braid.
A worn braided rug was unbraided, pressed, pieced together into fabric & then made into an article of clothing that may have been cut up for the rug. The holes are from the passage of footprints over time, the dirt spots reveal the unhidden surface of the braid.
A worn braided rug was unbraided, pressed, pieced together into fabric & then made into an article of clothing that may have been cut up for the rug. The holes are from the passage of footprints over time, the dirt spots reveal the unhidden surface of the braid.
A worn braided rug was unbraided, pressed, pieced together into fabric & then made into an article of clothing that may have been cut up for the rug. The holes are from the passage of footprints over time, the dirt spots reveal the unhidden surface of the braid.
A worn braided rug was unbraided, pressed, pieced together into fabric & then made into an article of clothing that may have been cut up for the rug. The holes are from the passage of footprints over time, the dirt spots reveal the unhidden surface of the braid.
A worn braided rug was unbraided, pressed, pieced together into fabric & then made into an article of clothing that may have been cut up for the rug. The holes are from the passage of footprints over time, the dirt spots reveal the unhidden surface of the braid.
A worn braided rug was unbraided, pressed, pieced together into fabric & then made into an article of clothing that may have been cut up for the rug. The holes are from the passage of footprints over time, the dirt spots reveal the unhidden surface of the braid.
A worn braided rug was unbraided, pressed, pieced together into fabric & then made into an article of clothing that may have been cut up for the rug. The holes are from the passage of footprints over time, the dirt spots reveal the unhidden surface of the braid.
A worn braided rug was unbraided, pressed, pieced together into fabric & then made into an article of clothing that may have been cut up for the rug. The holes are from the passage of footprints over time, the dirt spots reveal the unhidden surface of the braid.
An worn braided rug was unbraided, pressed, pieced together into fabric & then made into an article of clothing that may have been cut up for the rug. The holes are from the passage of footprints over time, the dirt spots reveal the unhidden surface of the braid.
A worn braided rug was unbraided, pressed, pieced together into fabric. The holes are from the passage of footprints over time, the dirt spots reveal the unhidden surface of the braid. Much of the fabric was never stepped on, due to the braiding process, so some really surprising patterns and vivid colors emerge!