Displaced

All winter long, while I sat and worked on this piece, I listened to news stories on the radio about the people who are fleeing their home countries amid war and conflict. Even though Displaced is inspired by 2016 world events, it could very well represent the universal and timeless plight of refugees throughout history.

When forming an idea, I often think in terms of creating miniature shallow stage sets and with this one, I envisioned a highly dramatic scene. It was important to me that the piece evoked a strong emotional reaction, much like opera. The heavily burdened figures are a chorus of characters making their way through an ominous landscape. To help create tension in the design, I thought of antonyms, such as dark/light, general/personal, despair/hope, trapped/escape, harsh/tender, sharp/soft and horror/beauty.
With fiber art, much attention is paid to materials and techniques, as well as the labor intensive process. My intention was to make a work of art that transcends the amount of time invested, as well as the methods and skill employed in the expression.