Tell Me About Your Mother

Last spring in my history of design class we talked about changing roles of women over time in relation to the design of household objects. It really got me thinking about the way that woman's roles seem to have come full circle. Liberated women have returned to domestic hobbies like sewing and baking, while juggling careers and families. With that whole concept in the back of my mind, I made another realization, this time about my own life. Although both of my parents have encouraged my artistic nature my whole life, my mother has always been the more hands-on one. She taught me to knit, sew, cross-stitch, etc. She is always eager to try making things ourselves instead of buying them.

As I started to link the two together and thought about the long history of mothers passing down things to their children, but it seems this tradition may have gotten lost somewhere along the line. Although the internet has created a large venue for learning these various skills, many people still learn the old fashioned way – from their mothers and their mothers before them. We should never lose sight of the importance of fostering creativity among a family by passing down knowledge to each new generation.

I spent last fall semester living in Chicago with a full time internship with Spudnik Press Community Print Shop. This semester I have been back to Spudnik to create the two-dimensional works seen here through both silkscreen and lithography. I built up the layers, sometimes from discarded test prints made by the other Spudnik printmakers, or starting with a blank sheet. Most images I have chosen come from my own family relics, such as photos, handwriting, or handmade objects.