Qualities of Care
CareGiver is part of a larger body of work using found crochet blankets and phrases relating to care (security, comforter, and so on.) They are objects that have been handmade and discarded. With their mesh-like construction, there is a tension in the offer of warmth and protection and their innate permeability.
The intention, often in giving a crochet blanket is one of connection, of labor, both of which become near valueless once discarded. The flowers in this piece come from multiple sources and are reconstructed to echo the flowers fading at memorials, of the "silk" flowers as substitutions for what is real that are found in so many soothingly nondescript waiting rooms and doctors' offices.
The text is stitched onto a plastic "safety mesh" a product used for garments. Like the crochet-work, the mesh offers little in the way of any real protection, yet there is still a sweetness in the labor and intent that cannot quite be denied.