Fabric collage, 5’x2′ reclaimed fabrics
In reverence for fleeting moments.
This piece depicts a group of lifelong friends en route to celebrate one of their birthdays. Youth, growing up, changing, finding their way apart and back together. A simple moment like taking the subway captured in time. Elevated into an instrument for remembrance, an artifact of our dedication to each other, an offering, a shrine to our friendship.
This, taking the subway is, I feel a common experience reflected in materials we all interact with every day. Clothing, bedsheets, tablecloths, etc. Therefore, this noticing, this reverence for each other is within all of our grasps. A uniting force within human experience.
Commonality is expressed in the techniques of both hand and machine stitching as well. I call on the women of my ancestry. Both in direct lineage and in the traditions of those crafts women, folk artists, and textile factory workers that came before me; and those that still work today. Using techniques often designated as “women’s work”, to create a homage to my female friendships that have stood the test of time just like a quilt passed down.
Tessa DeLisio
