My Motivational Me(me) series are quilted illustrations expressing my frustration with workplace exploitation; specifically, myself and the rest of the 50% of contingent faculty in higher education across America. Composed of recycled fabrics from memorable times in my life over the past 20 years, these quilts represent me as an individual with experience and humanity as opposed to being treated like a work horse in my places of employment. Motivational phrases drop off into a pile of tangled mess abruptly interrupting the positive motivational words and instead embracing sarcasm. The thousands of hidden French knots in the background are metaphors for my daily underappreciated labor over the past 18 years as an educator. As I work closely with my union to fight for better working conditions, I don’t want false hopes and pep talks– I want change.

Christine A. Holtz, 2020, Cotton bed sheets, interfacing, wire, 10’x3.5’x16”

Up a Creek Without a Paddle represents the household we keep afloat without control or certainty as to where we are headed during the pandemic. We all feel trapped in the safety of our own homes.

Performance of this piece in the space June 2020

Christine A. Holtz, 2020, Linen blend, embroidery, H25“x W36“x D24“

Covid-19 Work Blazer is my uniform as a mother, college instructor, homeschooler, and artist.  I am trying to maintain a sense of professionalism while my children sing, dance, fight, and complain in the background.  This piece symbolizes the extra arms needed to keep our family from losing balance in our “new normal.”  The sewn gesture drawings paired with repetitive hand embroidery are both an illustration and metaphor for parenting.  Hand embroidery requires a lot of control and repetition−very much like raising children.  Likewise, in freehand machine embroidery, the machine wants to move in one direction while I encourage it to sew in a more desirable path.  The processes are both a struggle and cathartic−just like parenthood. 

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Christine A. Holtz, 2017, Cotton, crochet hook, Wonder Woman toy, 3.5″x 33″ (varies slightly with time)

Spare a Square for Unibrow Care #1 (2005-2007), 4″x 4.5″, one square of toilet paper, glue, my eyebrow hairs

Spare a Square for Unibrow Care #2 (2007-2010), 4″x 4.5″, one square of toilet paper, glue, my eyebrow hairs

Spare a Square for Unibrow Care #3 (2010-2013), 4″x 4.5″, one square of toilet paper, glue, my eyebrow hairs

Spare a Square for Unibrow Care #4 (2013-2016), 4″x 4.5″, one square of toilet paper, glue, my eyebrow hairs

Spare a Square for Unibrow Care #5 (2016-2019), 4″x 4.5″, one square of toilet paper, glue, my eyebrow hairs

Spare a Square for Unibrow Care #6 (2019-2022), 4″x 4.5″, one square of toilet paper, glue, my eyebrow hairs

Spare a Square for Unibrow Care #7 (2022-2025), 4″x 4.5″, one square of toilet paper, glue, my eyebrow hairs

These drawings are part of an ongoing series of self-portraits drawn from my eyebrow hairs collected over 2.5 to 3 year time periods. Collection for the first drawing in this series started in 2005. I continue to collect for my next drawing still today. In part, this project is documentation of the dedication and obsessive habits associated with the common cosmetic routine of plucking eyebrows. It is also about time and the effects of aging.   i am testing my personal drive and dedication while exploring concepts of private vs. public, beautiful vs. grotesque, and control vs. the uncontrollable in relation to self-perception.

Post Apocalyptic Suit #1 1/2, 2009-2015, thousands of packing peanuts, thread, plastic armatures

The 2009 version of this piece was a performance about preparing for the possible end of the world in 2012.

In 2015 the piece transformed into a piece about my experience as a mother. These suits are composed of thousands of individually hand-sewn crushed packing peanuts. They represent the playful yet repetitive nature of parenthood and serve as a humorous form of bodily protection, which has a newfound importance since becoming a mother.

Oh Dear! Oh Dear! I Shall be Too Late!, 2008, Installation view 2015, approx. 9’x 9′, over 2000 bunnies, credit card junk mail

For three years, I collected all of my credit card junk mail, cut it into strips of paper, and folded it into tiny rabbits. I tried to continue to make these rabbits until all of the paper was used up, but I could not keep up.

Ten Second Rule, 2015, approx. 4.5′ x 3.5′ x 2.5′ installed, junk food wrappers pieced together

I deconstructed and recontextualized my previous work, Chain Snacker into a reactionary piece. It shows my changed interpretation of healthy eating and trying to avoid convenience with food since becoming a parent. All of my stitched together junk food wrappers have been wedged into a corner like a giant piece of discarded gum.

Temporary Solution, 2007, 2″x1.5″, miniature plastic shopping bag, ink, Cheerios to show scale

I made 50 miniature bags from one plastic grocery bag. Each miniature bag was then placed in a brown-bag lunch for an event at Market on Market grocery store in Louisville, KY. Each individual who purchased a brown-bag lunch, also received a Temporary Solution.

Side Effexors, 2007, 0.25″x 5″x 0.25″, Effexor pill shell, paper study on medication

This tiny accordion book contains a list of side effects associated with the medication Effexor as listed in the medication studies. It fits inside one pill shell waiting to be consumed.

Self Help for Bad Breath, 2005, 1.25″x 1.75″, Listerine breath strips, edible ink, labels

Each case holds 24 strips with drawings of situations where bad breath could be an issue. I gave out these tiny handcrafted books to strangers and friends when they had bad breath.

Professional Artist, 2008, Women’s size 8, plastic coffee bags

While working as a barista at a small coffee shop after graduate school, I collected large empty plastic bags from the coffee consumed by customers and myself. This collection became a uniform and a sarcastic play on what life was like to be a professional artist.

Paper Towel Dress Project, 2007, 5’x 3’x 3’, Cotton yarn, snaps, steel, and handmade book

In the context of an actual paper towel, each dress/towel would be discarded after one use, but for this project, I wore each dress until it was dirty, washed it, and reapplied it to the roll for continued use. Each dress is woven in a double weave structure so that I could be used almost directly off the loom. I recorded the life of each dress as I wore it and documented this in a hand-bound journal including photos.

All We Can Waste Buffet, 2007, Women’s medium shirt, standard aprons, paper stubs, hand-bound book

I collected data in collaboration with coworkers over the course of two years of working at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Each individual documented their steps from a pedometer and how many full plates of food they threw away each night on their time in/out stubs. After collecting the stubs, I made them into aprons representative of each coworker and myself. The shirt is a replication of my work uniform and is composed of all of my collected stubs. The installation is accompanied by a hand-bound corporate annual report including the absurdities of my findings.

Only $2.99 and 1.923784722 Calories!, 2006, Discarded happy meal packaging

I made this piece in reaction to the allure of tiny Mexican woven miniatures that I researched after studying in Tlaxiaco, Mexico. At the opening reception for this work, I ate the piece so no one could ever own it including myself.

Travel Bag, 2007, 10.5’x 12′, gallon plastic bag, thread

Since 1999, I have used the same plastic bag to carry my bath supplies when I travel. I continue to use the bag and will not replace it until I can no longer repair it.

Adult Pacifier, 2005, 7’x7’x14’ Cigarette Butts, wire, and steel

For this project, I worked with a group of volunteers who helped me collect cigarette butts from the grounds of the SIUE campus. Over the course of a few months, the team helped me collect 30, 946 cigarette butts. Each team member received a hand sewn, customized vest made from a life preserver to wear during the project. The final total and images from our collection was displayed on a sign next to the giant sculpture. In 2007, I completed this project for a second time in Jefferson City, Missouri, where the piece now lives.

Feeds(n)acks, 2004, Women’s size 12, Junk food wrappers, steel rods, interfacing, Walmart bags
Powdered Donut Wig, 2004, performance wearing Feeds(n)acks, Photo taken by Elizabeth Parris

Feeds(n)acks is a prop/costume sewn out of wrappers that I collected after consuming the products. For the performance, I ate donuts from my wig while being photographed in my costume. I will have my junk food and eat it too.

Chain Snacker (approximately 11,176 grams of sugar), 2006, performance, 5’ sphere, Junk food wrappers, Splenda wrappers, vinyl, and air pump

This enormous ball and chain composed of my junk food wrappers pieced together was inflated at the beginning of my performance. For four hours I chained myself to the ball and had to continuously re-inflate the ball using a manual pump as it slowly leaked air.