WHITE COTTON
In August 1972, I got married in Grindelwald, Switzerland.
In August 1972, I got married in Grindelwald, Switzerland.
In August 2009, after being married for 22 years and divorced for 15,
I started writing a memoir of my marriage on the inside of my white cotton eyelet mini wedding dress.
I started writing a memoir of my marriage on the inside of my white cotton eyelet mini wedding dress.
Writing inside the dress was a meditation - I wrote as I thought, and my words were unabashedly intimate.
As I wrote, I wasn't thinking of sharing this wedding-dress memoir. Yet the finished product had an airy and graceful appeal on the exterior, obscuring the dark and heavy words inside. I couldn't help but show it off as the centerpiece of my exhibit, From What I Gather, at the University of Arizona Poetry Center in Tucson, January to May 2013.
As I wrote, I wasn't thinking of sharing this wedding-dress memoir. Yet the finished product had an airy and graceful appeal on the exterior, obscuring the dark and heavy words inside. I couldn't help but show it off as the centerpiece of my exhibit, From What I Gather, at the University of Arizona Poetry Center in Tucson, January to May 2013.
The response to my dress was overwhelmingly positive, even though the dress was hung high enough so that my words couldn't be read. It became an art piece with a private history. I loved the idea of writing and that I could hide or partially hide my writing. I loved working with black pen on white cotton. I did not want to stop at my wedding dress, so I began collecting vintage, unadorned, white cotton dresses and female undergarments. It took an artists' residency at Brush Creek in Sheridan, Wyoming, to afford me unfettered exploration for this project. I expect this to be ongoing. I expect to push my boundaries.
I look forward to future residencies to suit this purpose.
The images below are examples of my work - White Cotton - done at Brush Creek in April 2014.
I look forward to future residencies to suit this purpose.
The images below are examples of my work - White Cotton - done at Brush Creek in April 2014.
