Heirlooms of Our Mothers & Grandmothers
What began as inherited linens and childhood memories has become an experience that reconnects people with the rituals, labor, and stories of generations before them.
Heirlooms of Our Mothers and Grandmothers is a series of site-specific outdoor installations that explore the intersection of memory, material culture, and the communal history of domestic labor. Utilizing obsolete linens, embroidered pillowcases, and familial clothing inherited from my grandmother, I "resurrect" these artifacts by embedding them with transferred family photographs. These images often appear as ghostly fragments, evoking a poignant sense of nostalgia and the inevitable passage of time.
Inspired by childhood memories of running through clotheslines in my grandmother’s backyard, this work—which I call "granny street art"—transforms private relics into public performance. By stringing these pieces across urban streets, courthouse lawns, and quiet fields, I invite viewers to physically walk through the installation. This interactive experience bridges the gap between past and present, inviting participants to connect with their own "bygone days" and the universal ritual of hanging laundry.
Inspiration
The conception of my installations came from the ephemeral, large-scale works of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, as well as Andy Goldsworthy. This project emphasizes temporary transformation of a place, whether exterior or interior. Unlike traditional sculpture, Heirlooms of Our Mothers and Grandmothers encourages direct interaction; the audience is invited to navigate the rows of hanging fabric, turning the act of viewing into a shared, sensory experience.
As I became more familiar with contemporary artists through my students’ interests, I considered how to incorporate my thoughts about family dynamics by connecting to material objects of my southern culture.
Another significant influence is Banksy, whose guerrilla-style installations and stencils often repurpose discarded items or urban infrastructure to deliver sharp social commentary on themes like consumerism and human rights.
The Humble Clothesline
Influenced by this trajectory, I utilized the humble clothesline as a medium to transform my ideas of a domestic chore into a visual narrative. By suspending vintage linens and garments in public or unexpected spaces, my work echoes the textile-driven scale of Christo and the site-specific subversion of Banksy. Each event is intended to invite the viewer to enjoy intimate moments of memory, which can be the overlooked rhythms of daily life.
The inevitable passage of time
They hang on clotheslines to represent our memories, which move with the wind, like ghosts of those we love and long to remember or forget.
