Mending & Shedding

This piece was created during Blur, a participatory event I co-produced with Mission Coffee owner Matt Robertson and singer-songwriter Cassie Johnson. The event invited the public to become part of the artwork itself, intentionally blurring the line between audience and artist. I designed a 20-foot-long snake template, divided it into sections, and invited participants to work freely using fabrics, beads, thread, ribbon, glue, needles, and sewing machines. I guided people through how to use the template, taught basic hand-sewing techniques, and showed participants how to operate sewing machines—some learning for the first time, others reawakening skills they hadn’t used in years. The process created a shared rhythm of making, conversation, and care.

After the event, I reassembled the individual segments into a single snake, adding my own embellishments to weave my voice back into the communal form. The snake was chosen intentionally, as 2025 was the Year of the Snake—a symbol of transformation, renewal, and cyclical time. I finished the piece just before the start of 2026, which allowed it to become a reflection of the year itself.

What stayed with me most was the way the community came together around this work—people teaching one another, remembering what their hands already knew, and offering time and attention without expectation. As I stitched together sections made by people I no longer speak to, and noticed the absence of pieces from those I had not yet met, the act of assembly became deeply personal. Even when relationships end abruptly, there is something meaningful in knowing that we shared moments of care and creativity. Like a snake shedding its skin, this piece holds what once fit and makes room for what comes next—new growth, new connections, and new experiences shaped by what was left behind.