ARTIST STATEMENT
I create embroidered collages using carefully selected, recycled materials that reference the theme of the piece. I am drawn toward themes that celebrate women: the inherent relationship between women and nature, the qualities in women I admire, and the liberation of women within modern feminism. I use cross-stitch in my work as a reclamation; I turn a form historically perceived as “trivial women’s work” into a medium of empowerment. Needlework becomes an act of rebellion in itself. Craft becomes art, and art becomes subversion and growth.
This piece explores themes of exploitation of women in society, ageism toward women as they lose qualities that are exploitable, and ultimately the resilience of women in the face of these challenges. I use wildflowers in tandem with women in this piece because they, too, have shown resilience in the face of exploitation of the natural world. I carefully chose the book pages that appear in this work too; the pages discuss how crucial wildflowers are to their ecosystems. When mankind tries to tear down meadows and mountainsides, wildflowers still grow through the cracks. Although some may condemn wildflowers as unimportant because they do not provide resources we can monetize, wildflowers do not concern themselves with these opinions. They push against their boundaries and grow anyway. Women are the same. As women grow and age, society condemns them as invisible and incapable of producing anything worthy. However, we subvert society’s expectations of beauty and grow anyway, pushing against the boundaries created for us.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Shannon is a mixed media and fiber artist living in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was born in Chicago but has lived in the Bay Area since she was a young child. As a child, she spent summers in Illinois with her grandmother and great-grandmother, digging through drawers of old textiles, sewing scraps, and embroidering samplers. She has happy memories bonding with her grandmother over these heirloom textiles, learning the history (or “HER-story”) behind these pieces that the women in her family had created. Through these textiles, she felt a connection to both her female ancestors and women in general. Living in Europe during college deepened her connection to the arts. She was especially intrigued in art as a powerful medium of storytelling through beautiful tapestries. She graduated with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Art History.
Shannon has worked with textiles for most of her life, quilting, knitting, crocheting, and embroidering. She chooses cross-stitch and embroidery on paper to help convey female-positive ideas as an homage to the often overlooked and traditionally feminine “craft”.
© Shannon Knowlton