Series: Let The Tablecloth Speak-The Embedded DNA Storytelling in Heirloom Linens

I’ve always believed that cloth holds our memories…
and now I know how to let the cloth speak

This series of works comes from a single decorative, heirloom tablecloth that was used in my family at gatherings during my youth and formative years. It was one among the many that my maternal Grandmother, Luevenia Fears Porchia received as a domestic worker. The cloth was discarded by that previous family but cherished by us as a beautiful symbol of wealth and respectfulness.

Receiving this tablecloth as an adult upon MaDear’s passing I laughed when my children scoffed at the idea that it held any place of honor and regard. After all, it was fraying, stained, worn through in places with browned crease lines from being stored in a dank hallway. It was only when I draped the table with this cloth, sat photographs of the elders in their familiar placesetting, then told their favorite stories and remembrances that my children began to see that tablecloth speak.

“Wait, Dad…this is where GrandMa Dear first told you …” “Whatever happened to your Great Uncle who got chased away that Christmas?” “Dad! You can’t elope next door“.

This Series takes that tablecloth and divides it into 12 pieces. Those pieces are the small, medium and large swaths of material that represents the places where we sat, talked, grew and fleshed out our lives. My writing skills, learned at this tablecloth, tell a small part of the stories. They emerged once the cloth was sectioned and spoke to me in the creative process that happens in the overnight sewing hours. I’ve tapped into a new image printing technique that develops the image right from the cloth. Unlike image transferring that lays the image on top of the fabric you are seeing a new fabric creation. Think of it as developing an image on fabric instead of photographic paper.

The narratives within each of these pieces is the honest result of choosing the strongest story emerging from the tablecloth. As the title of the series indicates, the tablecloth held so many stories and remembrances that I finally decided to lay the cut section on the pillow and whatever I dreamt is the narrative that the section would get!

The pages below are the full 22 piece series. A few of these have either already been exhibited or have been scheduled to appear in 2018.

I hope that your imagination and remembrances of home are triggered by this series. The full exhibition includes 8 other fabric works of story narratives that include political, racial, injustice and other family tales and truths.

* All of the materials used in the creation of these fabric works is repurposed. The one exception is the button selections on “Old Man’s Cotton”, but they were found in a discount bin.

**Use pinch to zoom on mobile devices for closer looks**