Lazos que unen (Colcha bordado I.), 2022 Hand embroidered dyed merino wool on industrial wool felt 31 x 29 x 1 in In Spanish “colcha” literally means “bedspread”, however it is also the name of a type of self-couching stitch used repeatedly to create a bordado originating in what is now the New Mexico / Colorado area. The look of this bordado is the result of the unique aesthetic mixture of existing embroidery in the area and the influence of Spanish colonials who invaded. Since its inception in the late 1700s (possibly earlier) on bedspreads and religious artifacts, it has undergone revival, preservation and even fraudulent historical copies. Colcha bordado originally consisted of naturally dyed wool thread made from the Churro sheep stewarded in the area, and sewn on sabanilla fabric; though it shifted to linen over time. The Colcha stitch is always supposed to go from left to right, with a downward angled couching. In “Lazos que unen”, I wanted to take on this loaded historical method and make it my own; using industrial wool felt which is typically a cushion for vibration between machines and synthetically dyed merino wool thread. The surface motif itself is a type of drawing that appears periodically in my practice: I make a small scale drawing and project it larger, so that another type of linguistic translation occurs. This work was made with support from the Autistic Women and Non-binary Network. Photo by Jenny Gorman. On view through 10/1 at @hesse_flatow