Initially, the exhibition was titled Recovered Histories: Roots, Signs, & Echoes. I thought the name would relay exactly what I hoped it would do, that is, to put forth consideration of what it means to excavate histories by digging into one’s ancestral past. Alas, the title was determined to be too long, so we settled with Unerased, which I believe represents my interests in exploring diasporic and ancestral connections.

Unerased: Echoes (l), Cotton Heritage (r)

The layout consisted of four rooms, which allowed me to stretch out and to focus on particular aspects of the ways interconnection could be manifested – personal (familial), community, country, and diaspora. Each aspect allows for uncovering pasts and connecting those pasts with the present – to open up possibilities to see how we are placed along a continuum ever leading forward, even as it seems at times circular or pendular. My intention was to use the exhibition as an opportunity to lay things out for myself, as well as to share this idea.

Textiles loomed large throughout the exhibition, in the forms of books, quilts, and collages. I thought, what better material to seek and speak of connection than textiles? Most of us have some connection to textiles, which vary so widely in composition – hair, fur, paper, plants, etc. I enjoyed assembling older works with newer works, such as Echoes, which represents the blossoming or repeating of ancestral pasts.

Echoes, detail, in progress

It is rare that human images, especially those that are recognizable, are featured in my work. One reason is that, because my work often speaks personally (not of me, necessarily, but of specific persons or events), I wish to convey that though an experience may be personal, it may also be connected to others. The aim is to propose a wider view of history. Echoes features faces, but the faces are also abstract.

Echoes, detail, in progress

Echoes also speaks to the women in my family who were very talented with the needle; in this case, particularly my mother, who taught me how to sew and made beautiful clothes for my siblings and me, and my aunt who I witnessed sewing evening gowns, men’s suits, and even a wedding gown! At the time, it was customary for wedding parties to drive through town, horns blaring and streamers billowing. My mind was blown and I was convinced that these two women possessed magical powers…Echoes is specific, but was created in fellowship with women of the needle.

Echoes

You are invited to my artist talk, What is an Art Quilt? at the Museum at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Thursday, April 9, 2026, from 6 to 8 pm CT. The talk is in conjunction with StitchPunk, a traveling exhibition, organized by the Studio Quilt Art Association (SAQA) and sponsored in part by the Caprock Art Quilters. Featured are quilts inspired by various speculative future subgenres, including biopunk, steampunk, and atompunk. The exhibition is on view in Lubbock, Texas, until May 3, 2026. There will be a Q&A session and refreshments after the talk. The event is free, but space is limited, so please RSVP to (806)742-2443 by April 1st to reserve your seat. 

History of a People is on view in Who is America at 250? Artists' Books on the State of Democracy, co-sponsored by San Francisco Center for the Book (SFCB) and the CODEX Foundation, at SFCB until March 8. The exhibition travels next to the Boston Athenaeum, where it will be on view March 30 – May16. Following Boston, the exhibition travels to the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, where it will be on view June 12 – August 2, 2026.