SILK THREAD PAINTINGS 2025

As the new year begins, I continue to address female empowerment via my silk works. The year has begun with the DANCING KIMONO series. In these works, I am exploring the invisibility of the mature woman in society. My social media platform has become a venue for performance art. I share my ongoing video journaling of my thoughts and the progression of my work. My journaling exposes the character evolution in each vignette, a key component of my finished works

“Speak softly and carry a big stick”-Theodore Roosevelt.

This quote was said in a military framework. 

Yet, I find it to apply to a feminist voice.

This is my fifth year creating Silk Thread Paintings that address female empowerment, contradicting a male-dominated society. 

Shunga and Chinese Silk Embroidery influence the work.

I create beautifully color-stained and embroidered vignettes of intimacy with joy and humor (the soft voice). The female is the controlling figure in each setting (the big stick), countering mainstream erotica and leaving room for agreeable human interaction, growth, and diversity. 

The sensual energy of females and female identifiers can be viewed as a threat that will tamper with male aggressive energy.

My Western artistic hand mingling with two ancient Asian art forms offers a blending between nations, bridging East and West and creating a window for intercultural exchange.  

Process:

I work in a conversational mode as the personality takes shape. Each mark adds depth, dimension, and emotion. I am creating a personality that I am meeting for the first time. 

My choice of sewing as a medium is intentional. Working with dupioni silk supports and complements the sensual narrative. 

I am purposefully using a medium that has historically been considered women’s work. It has also been considered a craft and not a fine art. 

I intend to usurp the male-dominated accepted forms of fine art creation.  

Before transferring the design to the dupioni silk, I created a drawing template on newsprint paper. I then stained the color palette. The embroidered layer finishes the personality of the artwork. 

The work hangs from magnetic bars like a tapestry or is displayed within a bamboo embroidery hoop.