LATCHKEY LATCH HOOK TOWNSHIP

ArtPort, Kingston, NY 2020 & 2023

In March of 2020, the bottom dropped out of all my work and I found myself at home on a pandemic-induced artist retreat. I suddenly had a wealth of time to focus on art, a luxury I had not previously known. I have forever reached for crafts as therapy during times of stress and loneliness. Finger knitting in the attic or making bookmarks at the kitchen table kept my sense of self intact when I was a child, and I have carried that lesson into adulthood. Now, as a working artist, my art primarily consists of found paper collected from recycling bins and library sales. This piece connects my early love of latch hook rugs to my contemporary work.

I began sewing together a collection of latch hook rugs I had been gathering for years. I requested and collected rugs from friends. I purchased rugs from yard sales and thrift stores. I created new rugs, both from boxes with instruction manuals and from my own designs. My college roommate's mother delighted in clearing her attic of an entire family collection of latch hook rugs. I then began to design my own rug patterns.

This piece is a reinvention of latch hook rug-making as folk art, weaving together multitudinous eras and styles. It becomes a mosaic of culture and a reinvention of a traditionally pedestrian mass-produced craft medium. The act of making something with your hands can give one a sense of purpose, accomplishment, and calm.