My practice investigates urgent sociopolitical issues by recontextualizing language and imagery to construct new narratives. I work primarily with a sewing machine to explore the tension between abstraction and representation, clarity and ambiguity. I am drawn to the gaps between what is shown and understood—spaces where meaning arises from absence.

Much of my work begins with isolating fragments of information drawn from events marked by trauma or displacement. I extract single sentences from emergency dispatch recordings or focus on the densely packed figures aboard a precarious refugee raft. These moments are etched into chalkboards, transformed into sewn compositions, or printed on unconventional materials like doormats. Each material is selected for how its inherent qualities illuminate the complexity of the subject matter. Chalkboards, for instance, evoke permanent scars—marks that resist erasure—while doormats serve as confrontational metaphors for how pressing issues are often stepped over or ignored.

I render these fragments through stitch work, using thread as a drawing tool. After preparing images in Photoshop, I “paint with thread,” building richly textured areas of color through a back-and-forth motion using free-motion embroidery. This technique, made possible by a special presser foot, allows the fabric to move freely in any direction. I intentionally use a standard sewing machine over digital embroidery software, embracing a slow, physical, and responsive process. The rhythmic motion of stitching becomes a meditative act, deepening my connection to each piece as it takes form through thousands of intentional stitches.

I find deep fulfillment in re-examining established content and interpretations, allowing familiar elements to reveal their hidden meanings from an intentionally shifted viewpoint.