I Carry It All
With Me

While making this piece, I wanted to show how my thoughts are affected by my past. Childhood memories are constantly running through my mind, working to revise my identity as I grow older. I am the same person I’ve always been, but with new experiences to stack on top of the old ones. When I meet a new person, they quickly learn that I am a storyteller, and my favorite stories to tell are of the adventures from my youth.

This jacket quickly became like a scrapbook of my thoughts and most favorite memories, an outward display of some of my inward thoughts and values. I keep these random memories running through my mind 24/7 in an effort to remember them forever. Perhaps now that they have been stitched into a physical form that my hands can grasp tightly, my mind can rest every once in a while.

When I decided to do this, I immediately pictured it in a collage style similar to one my favorite artists from childhood, Lauren Child, used. To achieve the sense of playfulness I wanted, I appliquéd using vibrant scraps of fabric and incorporated beads for more texture.

Embroidered textile (2023)

24” x 34”