Artist’s Statement | Fibers of Memory

This show is a culmination of my lifelong interest in Nature.

It is a personal exploration that blends artist-made paper with photographs, scanned imagery and dried and encaustic-preserved flowers from my gardens to evoke memories of family, friends and places.

The elements of the pieces reflect and mirror my own training and life experience - the growing and harvesting of the fibers and the flowers; the shredding, cooking, and digital printing; the composition - the poetic expression of a life or a moment sealed in beeswax.

In addition to their function and aesthetic, flowers, plants and trees have historic symbolic meanings. I have sought to utilize this almost-lost language to describe the emotional relationship to the subject of the piece. Daisies evoke innocence; grasses reflect the fleeting quality of life; thistle-hardwork; witch hazel-peace; red rose-love or war; black-eyed susans-justice.

The pieces are very personal but speak to universal themes. They are my personal diary and portraits of others.

All the images in Fibers of Memory are digitally printed with archival inks on my handmade papers composed of plants, then sealed with beeswax that was rubbed on the pieces. The frames are made from hemlock wood, from trees at my farm Sarvisberry, that died from a blight. Paul Guerra, a furniture maker from New Orleans, custom-made all the frames. The matting paper, mounted on archival board, is handmade paper - a blend my all my pulps mixed with cotton and abaca.

I'm dedicating my first show to my paternal grandparents: Amy Shields Edwards and William James Edwards. When I first handmade papers - iris, hollyhock and thistle came from my Amy - her love of gardening. I will always remember the smell of their garden - the soil and the flowers, and the incredible colors of the roses and camellias that floated in water on her dining room table.

And to all the good memories the folks in the New Orleans area who have great food, amazing jazz and a culture that no one can ever take away from them.