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Tiffany Besonen

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i am water

i am water
i am water

sewing pattern paper, wax, ink, paint, artist's hair,
poem by LouAnn Shepard Muhm

i am water | Media List

  • icon i am water

    sewing pattern paper, wax, ink, paint, artist's hair,
    poem by LouAnn Shepard Muhm



Statement

The collage entitled i am water is both my interpretation of the poem I Am Smoke When I Can Be by poet and fellow collaborator LouAnn Shepard Muhm, but also a narration of my own mothering. Again, pear-like forms float in slow, fluid motion, yet this time the pears are fleshy and raw. Are the sewing patterns a formula for how the fluid forms and nourishes life? Or are they simply instructions that I fail to follow?

As a mixed-media artist, I construct narratives about identity, biology, and family. My recent work is a series of personal metaphors for “ the pear” as the mother, child, womb, and home – the empty space around them like fluid, time, or movement. When constructing these bodily narratives, I’ve been drawn to the visceral and content rich qualities of sewing pattern paper, beeswax, my own hair, basswood logs and vintage wooden ironing boards. I want to use materials associated with traditional female roles, subtly calling those roles into question, without discarding the materials and traditions entirely.