Cross Stitch
This work has been published in the Communication Arts Typography Annual, Uppercase Magazine, and the Typism Book and exhibited in the LUGA poster bienale, Southern Miss National Juried Poster Show, the FL3TCH3R Exhibit at East Tennessee State University, and the AAD Faculty Group Show at the Lehigh University Art Galleries.
I started to connect cross stitch to my interactive design and creative coding work in 2023 for 36 days of type. I used p5.js to generate patterns for each letter and number, then stitched them together in a grid. Although each 20x20 pixel character could take hours to stitch by hand, the code that generated the pattern — available for use via the p5.js web editor — creates a new variation every .85 seconds. The process of selecting patterns and then stitching them over the course of 36 days forced me to look at my design process in a new light. Every single pixel mattered in a way it never had before.
In the summer of 2024 during a micro-residency at the Bischoff Inn in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, I began to use the technical and the tactile to examine place. I stitched landscape scenes but left unstitched spaces to create QR codes leading to Google Maps coordinates of the landscape. I was able to get the exact location of the landscapes from iPhone picture metadata and then used iPhone photos to create the landscapes. The process turned quick snapshots into laborious meditations on what it means to be in a specific location at a specific time. I used the same process of landscape and QR code stitching to explore vintage ephemera by recreating a 1935 postcard.
I explored typographic process and scale to create a stitched poster featuring the word “slow” inside a checkerboard pattern. In a concerted effort to work on my mental health in the Fall of 2024, I created a series of typographic pieces by stitching black thread on perforated paper. These are phrases I repeat in my own head in order to work through anxiety. Questions to check in with myself — Am I getting overwhelmed? and What can I say instead of ‘‘should?”. Phrases to calm myself down — This shall pass, Everything will be okay, and I am not in danger. A 4-7-8 breathing technique — inhale for four counts, hold for seven counts, and exhale for eight counts. The repeated process of stitching emphasizes the repeated thought to act as a sort of mantra. Every stitch is a chance to check in with myself. To be present in the moment. To be aware of my body. To ground myself. To be mindful.
I also created a diptych grouping of two pieces addressing reproductive rights United States. US Travel is hazardous if you are or may become pregnant. A patchwork of different laws across the US can mean vastly different health outcomes for people who are or could become pregnant. This diptych includes a QR code leading to a map of US abortion laws from the Center for Reproductive Rights.
