All Along
MFA Qualifier Exhibition, 2022
All Along is an exhibition about discovery and reflection of my lineage and culture. It is a celebration of handmade and embellished textiles and the purpose they hold as heirlooms. The exhibition has four segments to explore:
The research began by examining the importance of storytelling and familiar objects of my ancestors. My grandfather was a salesman in luxury textiles and would travel on his motorbike around the southeastern regions of Italy, ultimately, meeting my grandmother. This discovery made my passion for creating textiles clearer; my existence was made possible by the exchange of textiles. Getting to Know You is the beginning of an ongoing effort to record and organize stories and artifacts from my family to prevent their disappearance as time goes on. The book contains interviews with an elder that led me to understand domesticity and gender roles within my heritage.
Most Italian women had a dowry of textiles made to be passed down through generations. This collection is referred to as a corredo. When my family immigrated to the Midwest, my grandmother sold her corredo of textiles to financially support their trip. In the ongoing photo series, Oceans Between, I reflect on the distance between here and the homeland, the body of water that migrated my family, and what was left behind. Indigo blues are represented as passages of time and acts of transit.
Within the research, I have learned that for Italian immigrants and their descendants, textiles (needlework), represent a marker of identity. The education in needlework typically skips a generation; the daughters of immigrants were not interested in learning these skills. The granddaughters were often more interested in this aspect of Italian heritage. I find this to be true as I, the granddaughter, am a trained weaver. On display are four handwoven and hand-dyed weavings that begin my own, contemporary corredo.
I find my skills to be a perfect complement to my grandmother’s and my ancestors: I weave the cloth and they would have embellished. Threads That Bind photo series recognizes this marriage of mediums and reflects on my lineage of fiber craftswomen. A concertina book of present day images represents three generations. As I look at photographs of these women I have barely known, I look to my body that reveals a strong resemblance.
This exhibition is a view into my journey of self-discovery.
The research began by examining the importance of storytelling and familiar objects of my ancestors. My grandfather was a salesman in luxury textiles and would travel on his motorbike around the southeastern regions of Italy, ultimately, meeting my grandmother. This discovery made my passion for creating textiles clearer; my existence was made possible by the exchange of textiles. Getting to Know You is the beginning of an ongoing effort to record and organize stories and artifacts from my family to prevent their disappearance as time goes on. The book contains interviews with an elder that led me to understand domesticity and gender roles within my heritage.
Most Italian women had a dowry of textiles made to be passed down through generations. This collection is referred to as a corredo. When my family immigrated to the Midwest, my grandmother sold her corredo of textiles to financially support their trip. In the ongoing photo series, Oceans Between, I reflect on the distance between here and the homeland, the body of water that migrated my family, and what was left behind. Indigo blues are represented as passages of time and acts of transit.
Within the research, I have learned that for Italian immigrants and their descendants, textiles (needlework), represent a marker of identity. The education in needlework typically skips a generation; the daughters of immigrants were not interested in learning these skills. The granddaughters were often more interested in this aspect of Italian heritage. I find this to be true as I, the granddaughter, am a trained weaver. On display are four handwoven and hand-dyed weavings that begin my own, contemporary corredo.
I find my skills to be a perfect complement to my grandmother’s and my ancestors: I weave the cloth and they would have embellished. Threads That Bind photo series recognizes this marriage of mediums and reflects on my lineage of fiber craftswomen. A concertina book of present day images represents three generations. As I look at photographs of these women I have barely known, I look to my body that reveals a strong resemblance.
This exhibition is a view into my journey of self-discovery.
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