My first art teacher, my grandmother, says an artist always paints herself as an explanation to why her sculptures mirror her slender features, Jewish nose, and my mom’s smile. In this experiment in portraiture, I drew a single line focused on anonymity while playing with proportions and over-simplification by collaging facial features from family photos and self-portraits. The process of embroidering tablecloths, bedsheets, old clothes, and curtains is methodical and extremely labor-intensive. 

Each pieces build a bulging, womb-like refuge sewn together with drooping heads and morphed expressions. Cloth acts as protector and communicator, both a barrier and bridge; the looming, ominous faces live in contrast to a space cradled by the softness of stuffed fabric. The resulting objects pad the walls, evoking safety within sentimentality, suffocation, and release.