Detail, Ikat Algorithm, 2008, 37 x 24 inches, 94 x 61 cm

Medieval tapestries were often political or religious parables clothed in classical allusions. I use this ancient art form with modern symbols and metaphors to circumvent the rational mind and reach people on an intuitive, emotional level. The familiarity and non-threatening nature of textiles allows me to seduce the viewer into taking a closer look at preconceived assumptions.

My work reflects my social concerns and my fears for the future of our world. I draw on my own photographs and old family photos, my interest in the mystical side of world religions, and my need to comment on the ills of the world. I am concerned with humanity and its relationship to the environment, both natural and man-made, and to itself. I am concerned with our current worship of technology and how it affects our daily lives. We have lost our sense of who we are and how we fit into our world.

My themes are becoming more demanding and, as the news becomes more depressing, my tapestries are becoming more explicit. I have woven images of adults out of touch with their environment, each other, and themselves, and children looking to a bleak future created by war and poverty in an ever more alien world. I am concerned with how we alter reality to fit private dreams; whether it is how we remember the past to make it more romantic or how we imagine the future to make it more palatable. I am concerned with current threats: environmental degradation and our blindness to our future. I have incorporated dead birds in many of my tapestries, a personal icon representing the senseless killing of war.

On the other hand, I have injected hope into some recent work which deals with the spiritual aspect of world religions. We need to act.