the chain

This is one of the blocks of the homelessness piece.  The paper laminated center is probably my fifth version -- the others didn't make the cut (literally), as the color of the transparent fabric fought with the colors in the hand-dyed monoprinted environs, and it wasn't pretty.

Color has been a huge struggle, actually, as the red undertones of the brown are so dominant that all my previous fabric prints had to be tossed, then reworked digitally and reprinted. They'll probably end up on the back of the piece in some fashion.

I have assembled the top and started stitching. First, I am using monofilament (clear) to anchor things and highlight. Here is one of the laminated images -- a paper photo attached to silk chiffon with matte medium, and then distressed to remove small parts of the image (visible on the leg of the homeless man and the leg of the picnic table) --

I will be doing a lot of hand stitching, trying to impart a feeling of roughness - "tattered and torn."  Here is one area in this block where I have torn away some of the fabric and patched it, then stitched it. I left many threads hanging. I hope the exhibit's juror doesn't mark me down for poor workmanship. This is intentional!

I spent some time with my homeless subject this week. Can't write about it, but I am learning a lot.