Living Here With Chaos and Creation
Artist Statement: “Soul”
Soul is a textile meditation on fracture, reverence, and renewal. The idea for this piece came in 2014, after an out-of-body experience where I saw my soul as a Humpty Dumpty-style shattered egg—cracked open, lit with electric currents, fragile and glowing. It felt separate from the confident, intuitive life force I had always known. I was living with a broken heart and mental illness, and I never expected to need to heal something so mythically broken.
I began writing to a Catholic religious sister who never told me to stop. That act—of scripting out the pain and truth—wasn’t instantly healing, but it was a beginning. Over time, I emerged with goals, purpose, and the will to live with ambition.
This piece is deeply influenced by Anatomy of the Spirit by Caroline Myss, Entering the Castle by Saint Teresa of Ávila, and The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell. I wanted to create an image that reflected the anatomy of my own spirit—the many rooms in the castle of my soul.
I chose Shibori dyeing for its layered ancestral tradition and its ability to hold both symmetry and spontaneity. The indigo dye and water-based process resonated with my upbringing on the Gulf of Mexico in Mobile, Alabama. Osaka, Japan—sister city to my hometown—was devastated by the 2011 tsunami, and the following year, a Christmas Day tornado struck my own neighborhood. These disasters, both distant and intimate, became part of the shattered pieces of my soul.
Returning to Japanese art traditions—sumi-e calligraphy, ikebana, and Shibori—was a way to reconnect with reverence, rhythm, and resilience. In learning about Shibori, I discovered a layered tradition that echoed the mythic cycles Joseph Campbell described. I wanted to honor Japan’s vow of never again—a response to the atom bomb that devastated their country. And I made my own vow: never again will I allow my soul to be consumed by grief and brokenness. I will embrace life. I will be joyful about whatever comes my way.
This piece is also a tribute to the haiku by Matsuo Bashō that has stayed with me for decades:
Sick on a journey
over parched fields
dreams wander on
Even amidst devastation, the dreams continue. That is the joy of life and creation. Soul is my offering to that truth.
It is not just a textile—it is a spiritual map. It reflects how we grow as a global community through shared experiences of disaster, war, and healing. It honors the traditions passed down through generations, and the quiet strength it takes to keep moving forward.