Give me your hand, sister | Portmanteau Project Space | Dayton, OH

Exhibition Statement

The phrase give me your hand, sister implies a hand reaching for help, or a hand offering care, a gesture that goes both ways. These works were made in with and for my three sisters: plaster casts of their shoulders and felted coats. My sisters and I made the felt together. Felting requires rubbing and compressing loose wool fibers together with soap and water to create a sturdy textile that has no clear warp or weft and is very hard to tear. I eventually made the felt into coats for each of my three sisters. The essay Tears/Tears was written in collaboration with my sister Lindsay Mailloux, reflecting on the homonym tears.