I use silk fabric of a lower momme weight as it’s more transparent, allowing the shape and colors of the beach glass to be seen. The lower the momme, however, the more vulnerable the silk fabric is to being snagged. I used the most delicate 3.5 momme silk chiffon from Dyeing House Gallery on the inside of the chest and back pieces to illustrate the internal wear of my neck tissue and our vulnerabilities that we as humans tend to hide from the outer world. As I fulled the pieces, the warp and weft threads of this delicate silk fabric encasing the glass, shifted and created a distressed look. Even more severely, as the wool shrank around the perimeter of the silk encasements the beach glass began to push apart the warp and weft threads of the silk, threatening to slip out of the encasement like a slipped disc in the cervical spine. I chose to hand stitch or repair the distressed fabric so that the beach glass wouldn’t eventually push its way out. The variations in the hand stitched patterns of lines and grids represent the various modalities I have tried implementing to mend my distressed neck tissues and bones. I chose to stitch a fiery red circle around the most vulnerable areas of the silk fabric where the beach glass would surely slip out if not mended to draw attention to these acute and inflamed points.
For context of this project please read my first posting and those that followed about the DHG Charity Project in STRONGFELT’s Blog, INTRIGUE.
