Wearing My Heart On My Sleeve is a collection of fabric and fiber works that focus on issues related to my recovery from a heart attack. Using the hospital gown and other garment forms as templates for self-portraiture, I explore the emotions surrounding the diagnosis and subsequent management of my chronic health condition. My art-making process combines tradition and technology, using modern, high-speed sewing machines and computers to create the fabric for contemporary interpretations of traditional garment and needlecraft forms. I am also concerned with the use of language and words as critical design elements for the fabrics I create. The resulting work is an autobiographical investigation that aims to speak universally to the challenges of living with a chronic disease
