Paisley, FL
fabric, relief printing ink, embroidery thread, black tea
33" x 29"
detail
detail
fabric dyed with black tea
stitching details
printing the tail
My work entitled
Paisley, FL is a constructed fictional artifact from a real place that has been special to my family for generations. I wanted to make something that would look right at home in the run-down 1970s fishing cabin on the lake where my family goes fishing. The cabin is practically abandoned but still full of vintage furniture and a hand pump sink. It has turquoise floor-to-ceiling paint coated in years of grime. The kitchen counter is covered in fish hooks and lures. My focus for
Paisley, FL was to replicate the contrast of lovely and grimy that makes the cabin so charming. To achieve this, I used the tail of a largemouth bass to make the dark inky imprints on delicate curtain fragments. I attached them onto tea-dyed cotton that I embroidered with an intuitive pattern of flowers and abstract stitching. Dying the fabric aged the new material to something archaic. Through
Paisley, FL, I
explore the relationship between lasting beauty and inevitable decay.
