The Holy Union
The Holy Union
Embedded Files
new collage works! new collage works!
In 2021, I started learning how to sew but as time went by I wanted to experiment more with creating wearable art. The Holy Union is a story of love, pain, anguish, and abuse between two former lovers. The patterns and embroidery pieces were handmade, cut, and sewn by me.
This sort of functionality of this piece is very integral to its meaning as we tend to shy away from topics of abuse, especially when relating to domestic and emotional violence. When people wear/use/display these pieces, I want to hold space for them to reevaluate their view of love. LOVE is incompatible with abuse or violence.
I drew inspiration from the plight and struggle of African women and mothers who often find themselves in abusive/violent relationships with no clear way of escape. These women are often trapped, with no way of escaping the hell that is their reality, and more times than often, their only option is to turn to religion and pray for the storm to pass.
I have also accompanied these pieces with a short poem below.
brute father
---
spare the rod and spoil the child,
did he NOT
his constant grin poured upon souls like a broken faucet
his eyes filled with rage
RED
no brown,
no, blue
NO, colorless!
empty, gasping for air silently pleading for help, his inner child longing for a warm embrace
Yet no one could ever hear him on the surface.
his voice muffled with anger
drowning in his rage,
his tongue tied up in regret
yet he forgets he holds the key to his mute
and in a single breath, the world stops
for just a moment
a window of opportunity to lighten the burden appeared
but to take the chance
HE DID NOT
mother and her trail of tears
---
silence (d)
violence (d)
MY Knight in Shining Armor
the world watched as his words pierced my lonely heart
how his armor failed to protect me from all harms
how he swung his sword to draw my blood with grace and poise
as a knight should?
he watched as I began my metamorphosis
but this time it was reverse
I crawled into my cocoon
in the day,
transforming into nothing but a projection of my knight in shining armor
but at night,
I cried at the loss of my former self
A woman I fear I shall never know again.
Google Sites
Report abuse