Weaving is the perfect medium for someone who sees their world in patterns. Everywhere I look from nature, architecture & menswear is inspiration for my woven designs. Weaving speaks to my soul & allows me the freedom to create as I see my world. It is a slow Zen-like process, allowing my ideas to expand as the fabric grows. I use my fabrics as others use paints & inks, seeing them as the source material for making my artistic statements. My art collages address societal issues close to my heart. I use my artistic voice to speak to current concerns while creating beautiful art. My fabrics become metaphors for the environmental damage from the textile & fashion industries. Both are well-documented environmental menaces in terms of air & water pollution & as major landfill contributors. Disrupting the natural order of the fabric by cutting it to create intersecting designs & patterns is simultaneously exhilarating & scary. I reduce my environmental impact by using eco-friendly yarns & upcycling my handwoven samples. I also upcycle remnant warp yarns for accent elements & my handmade paper. When finished, I achieve a kaleidoscope of intersecting designs and patterns. Like a pointillist painter, my pieces delight from afar yet reveal new intricacies upon closer inspection.
I earned a Woven and Constructed Textiles degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. As an Associate Professor in a Fashion Design department in an art school in Chicago, I taught fashion design students how to design woven fabrics using a CAD program, among other classes. Currently I sell my artwork and functional woven pieces under my constance brand through juried art and craft fairs from the East Coast to Chicago. I have been juried into prestigious national shows including the Smithsonian Craft Show, Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Baltimore’s American Craft Made Show, Chicago’s American Craft Expo and the One of a Kind Show in Chicago as well as Milwaukee’s Lakefront Festival of Art (2019 Best of Show). Recent artwork has been featured in gallery exhibitions from Chicago to Roanoke to Newcastle Australia. One piece is currently featured in the US Government’s 5th National Climate Assessment. My work has sold throughout the United States and as far away as France, Australia and Israel.