Reimaging, unraveling, and recreating my Grandmother’s rugs.
As a deaf/Hard of Hearing artist, I intentionally obscure sections of the textiles by unweaving, mirroring miscommunication. How does information disappear when access breaks down? These distortions reference both glitch and static, mimicking the way my hearing aids sometimes pick up sound, or whats lost without captions.
Using iconography from queer history and my heritage, I trace how ideas spread, cycle, and get erased.
My recent work focuses on Tila Tequila—a 2000’s queer cyber-celebrity who took VH1 by storm with her infamous bisexual reality dating show “A Shot Of Love,” only to shock everyone with a controversial downfall. I use imagery from that time in combination with my own body.
Medium: Fabric Paint, Digital Jacquard, Archival Frutiger Metro, Sequin, Glass Beads, Rhinestones
Dimensions: 180” x 80”
Year: 2024
I trace Tila Tequila's golden years through adorned and hand-painted textiles, pulling imagery from the optimistic internet aesthetic frutiger metro that echoed through “A Shot At Love’s” era. As I share the lived experience of becoming a cultural virus, otherwise known as a meme, I show images of my body alongside Tila Tequila’s in these textiles.
Medium: Fabric Paint, Digital Jacquard, Archival Frutiger Metro, Sequin, Glass Beads, Rhinestones
Dimensions: 40” x 60”
Year: 2024
Medium: Fabric Paint, Digital Jacquard, Archival Frutiger Metro, Sequin, Glass Beads, Rhinestones
Dimensions: 60” x 80”
Year: 2024
Medium: Fabric Paint, Digital Jacquard, Archival Frutiger Metro, Sequin, Glass Beads, Rhinestones
Dimensions: 60” x 80”
Year: 2024
Medium: Fabric Paint, Digital Jacquard, Archival Frutiger Metro, Sequin, Glass Beads, Rhinestones
Dimensions: 60” x 80”
Year: 2024
The textiles also pull direct inspiration from my grandmother’s rugs, paying homage to our diaspora. The imagery of a pink gas pump repeats throughout the works, representing danger hidden in plain sight.
Medium: Digital Jacquard, Archival Frutiger Metro
Dimensions: 60” x 80”
Year: 2024
Medium: Fabric Paint, Digital Jacquard, Archival Frutiger Metro, Sequin, Glass Beads, Rhinestones
Dimensions: 30” x 80”
Year: 2024
Medium: Fabric Paint, Digital Jacquard, Archival Frutiger Metro, Sequin, Glass Beads, Rhinestones
Dimensions: 40”x 60
Year: 2024