
An invisible bodily chain reaction:
stuffed, stretched, off kilter,
reshaped into a new state of being.
Shedding a skin of what once was.
Singular once again,
a pillow for new life.
Through a lexicon of propagated sewing tools, mutated fig leaves, reproductions of heirlooms, and abstract hints of clothing I create sensorial forms that live as surrogates for female bodies and their parts and functions. I use my experience to create feminist works, emphasizing the idea that personal problems are still, now more than ever, political problems with respect to bodily autonomy.
“Femme Body Cushions” is a series of self-portraits of my body in transformative states, with the work stemming from a poem I wrote in the fourth trimester. These stitched, cut, squished, and pinched soft sculptures explore deep binary emotions felt during pregnancy and motherhood, ranging from protection and endangerment, guilt and anxiety, and sexuality and intimacy, to arrive at tertiary emotions.
The experiences of being a woman today and the anxieties of persistent threats to the 19th Amendment culturally informs my work. The techniques and objects in the works stem from my Croatian and Italian matriarchal lineage with the intent to honor the history of women’s work. The lace, cameo pin, and thimbles present in many of the works are direct casts of family heirlooms, some of my own and some of others. Many of the objects that are casted are made by or were tools used by sisters, aunts, mothers, grandmothers, and great grandmothers. I find urgency and importance in celebrating and interweaving my hand and voice with the cultural traditions and histories taught and practiced by women before me.




















