Three Bands

After visiting Nigerian artist Nengi Okuru’s sanyan-painted textile hangings, “The Gathering,” at the De Young, I dreamed of three horizontal bands. The last was loose and needed gathering. On an old vinyl garden tarp, I spray painted bright colors, then adhered rows of dried yucca leaves, garden soil, and items from a long-forgotten rag pile. The tee shirts are from a year of big life changes. I’m interested in how the soil grounds at center--and the dried leaves seem to re-bloom anew above. The fabrics juxtapose both domesticity (with the place mats) and sexuality (with the crotch cuts). What does it take to maintain potency—one’s life energy—during drastic dissolutions like divorce and the loss of a home that once housed an intact family?