Anxiety Prep Drawing, 2006
ink and pencil on graph paper
8 ½ x 11 inches
These pieces are sewn on ready-made lace bookmarks which are
available at most craft stores. They are most commonly cross-stitched as a
keepsake reminder of a favorite prayer or comforting phrase. Here, a word or
phrase is now homage to something darker that evokes fear and uncertainty; an
acknowledgment of weakness. The text is surrounded by a network of geometric
patterned stitches that creates an intricate structure of threads, binding the
letters to their support. These stitches form a traditional Blackwork pattern,
a type of counted stitch embroidery popular in the 15th and 16th centuries.
They are executed here as white-on-white instead of the traditional black on
white, which gives them a more subtle presence, and allows them to integrate
with the white support fabric, thus existing as a field of texture that quietly
takes over the heavier black text.
