Past Mending is a new project that translates photographs of vintage needlepoint works depicting bucolic landscapes and elaborate floral still lifes into visually transformed iterations that have, in a sense, gone rogue.
The mid-century needlepoint works I photograph originate from hobby-craft kits that are closer in spirit to 1950s paint-by-number paintings than to the rich artisanal tradition of historical needlework. Often described as "paint by number with needle and thread," these kits include a pre-printed image on a mesh canvas with color-coded grids that correspond to the supplied threads. Even novice crafters can follow the pattern to faithfully recreate the idyllic scene pictured on the packaging. My work instead subverts this prescribed process, transforming these familiar images into emotionally darker visual narratives through a form of renegade needlepoint.
My process begins by photographing completed needlepoint kit works and translating the images into digitally woven textiles. I then hand-dye, collage and crudely embroider the woven surfaces, merging digital and manual processes to disrupt the original imagery. The resulting works transform these once-banal scenes into abstract compositions through amplified color, fragmented patterning, and physical deconstruction, or alternatively into fragile, shroud-like objects. Collectively, the works evoke a collapsing illusion of material abundance while reflecting on America's intertwined histories of domestic labor, consumption, nostalgia, and loss, using handmade craft as both subject and metaphor.
Moonlight, 2026
Woven textile photograph with embroidery mounted on panel, 30”x24”x1.5”
Eclipse, 2026
Woven textile photograph, hand-dyed, collage with embroidery and hand-sewing mounted on panel, 30”x40”x1.5”
Geraniums, 2026
Woven textile photograph, hand-dyed, deconstructed, embroidery and hand-sewing mounted on panel, 36”x24”x1.5”
Cerulean, 2026
Woven textile photograph, hand-dyed, deconstructed, embroidered, mounted on panel, 34”x19”x1.5
Crimson, 2026
Woven textile photograph, hand-dyed with embroidery mounted on panel, 38”x22”x1.5”
Valerian Path, 2026
Woven textile photograph, hand-dyed, collage and hand-sewing mounted on panel, 26”x36”x1.5”
Old Country, 2026
Woven textile photograph, fabric collage with yarn and hand sewing mounted on panel, 40”x24”
Nautical Tendencies, 2026
Woven textile photograph, collaged fabrics and embroidery mounted on panel, 41”x30×1.5”
Fire, 2026
Woven textile photograph, deconstructed with embroidery and hand-sewing over panel, 36”x18”x1.5”
Still Life, 2025
Woven textile photograph, hand-dyed, collaged with fabrics, 27”x21”
Still Life 2, 2025
Woven textile photograph, hand dyed, embroidered and fabric collage, 32”x22”