Monastery Residency

I recently spent 7 days at Saint Augustine's House monastery where I created work and immersed myself in the wonderful monastic community there. I've been honored to regularly visit this monastery over the last few years and feel a deep sense of home in this place. I took lots of fabrics, my sewing machine, and drawing materials and spent about 10 hours a day creating and praying with the monks multiple times throughout the day. It was deeply restful and energizing at the same time.

I'm currently investigating the concept of clothing and identity and how our roles and sense of self are often expressed in what we chose to put on our bodies. I spent hours getting to know a few of the monks on a deeper level and listened to their stories about how they became monks and what it is like for them to wear the habit (black hooded garment) that they wear each day. On the last day there, I transformed this textile composition I was working on as a 2-D composition on the floor, into a 3-D garment for myself to wear. This is part of my current ongoing work merging fiber art and clothing design.