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.
