STATEMENT
My artwork examines clothing as material culture, extracting tacit narratives from garments and the bodies that wear them. The potential for meaning in clothing is directly connected to the way it interacts with the body. Cloth receives us, holding not just our histories but also those of people who wore the garments before us. Becoming a second skin it denotes on its surface the experiences and encounters we have with the exterior world. In this way clothing can also store cultural and historical narratives of groups of people. Garments and cloth are the primary sources from which I draw out information about lived experiences (both personal and communal) that speak to identity, relationships, and performance.
Until fairly recently we created garments by hand. The investment of time and labor to produce by hand means that each garment was further cherished, maintained, and retained for longer periods of time. For this reason I am drawn to labor intensive processes that require meticulous attention and repetition such as papermaking, printmaking, and handwork. The care and attention required by these processes mirrors the conditions for producing a piece of clothing. As I work, I consistently consider surface. What sits above, within, or beneath? What is revealed or what is concealed? What is hidden, mended, or exposed? The physical layering of materials and processes throughout my body of work evokes the layers of memory and history I investigate.
My most recent body of work focuses on lace. During my research I was drawn to the etymology of the word lace––early 13c. from Old French laz "a net, noose, string, cord, or snare,” a trapping and hunting term, probably from Italic base *laq- "to ensnare" (compare Latin lacere "to entice”)––and the relationship that exists between “to ensnare” and “to entice.” I am intrigued by the considerable strength lace has to stretch and tug, despite its delicacy, enclosing the body in both comforting and discomforting ways. Lace is a paradoxical material full of contradictions. And for this reason I use it as a vehicle to explore the insidious aspects of performing femininity (and expectations that come with it). An inner conflict between yearning to be a delicate object of beauty and desire, while simultaneously wishing to not be objectified by or evaluated on those qualities.
RESOURCES ABOUT MY WORK
Artist’s Look Tour of the 2021 MS Invitational (I discuss works by two artists in the exhibition and connections to my own work)
Artist Sue Carrie Drummond in Conversation with Curator of the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art (discussion about my progression as an artist and my work in the 2020 MS Collegiate Art Faculty Invitational at the Lauren Rodgers Museum of Art)
The Last Thread: Sue Carrie Drummond’s Darning Stitch (blog post and interview about the book I created as part of my 2017 Artist’s Book Residency at Women’s Studio Workshop).