Nesting I

2021 – 2022

These works came about from my research into motherhood, womanhood, and matriarchy via a Slavic and personal lens. I am a first generation Canadian. Both of my parents immigrated from Slovenia to Canada as “displaced persons” after World War 2. As a first generation Canadian I have felt a constant need to attach myself to my Slovenian heritage, to make sense of my connection, and my disconnection to it, in an authentic and inquisitive way. 

Lacemaking in Slovenia has traditionally been preserved and kept alive by mothers teaching daughters. It is now taught in schools to all children. My mother was an avid lacemaker up until a few years ago—she stopped when her eyesight started to fail her, and arthritis crippled her hands. My mother lived for four years in several DP (displaced persons) Camps in Austria before coming to Canada. She learned a certain style of lace-making from local women she apprenticed with and then sold her products to help buy extra milk and food for the children in the camp. She did not pass this skill down to me, but I gained an appreciation for it by watching her intensely occupy her time with this activity.

Many of the images in this series come from Slovenian lacemaking patterns, diagrams and lace I have either collected, were gifted, or inherited. By using them as a base, and by applying a variety of editing processes to emphasize a particular narrative, I am able to actively attach myself to the creative language of my matrilineal ancestors. By examining, replicating, deconstructing, and re-imagining the creation of lace in my artistic practice, I can create my own space to participate in this creative tradition and visual language—nesting myself within it..