Artist Statement: Buttons have made cameo appearances in much of my previous work; in this series they are the primary material with which I construct family portraits. My parents were upholsters and my earliest memories are of playing in their shop with piles of vinyl and foam rubber. I have sewn since I was a child and the stitch plays a major role in my work, so it was natural to join the buttons together to forma reconstructed family portrait.
“Passage” is a portrait of my father who encouraged and supported me in becoming an artist and whose death in 2001 was the impetus for this body of work. “Configuration” is a triple portrait of my mother, my father and me as a young woman. “Party Hat Girl” is a study based on a photo of me dressed up for my fifth birthday.