Living with the Weight
May 2021 | series of digital photographs
An extension to The Physicality of Anxiety in which the artist is photographed engaging in day-to-day activities with the crocheted yarn and it's wearable bag and collar. The images dramatize the prevailing anxiety experienced in seemingly mundane moments which often lead to unyielding internal conflict.
The Physicality of Anxiety externalizes the experience of anxiety and dares the mother to articulate their needs, desires and self-ness. The act of making is an act of care. The piece involves crocheting skeins of yarn into rope-like forms with a finished weight equivalent to a common brick (2643g). The crocheting exteriorizes the weight, size and overwhelming presence of anxiety and in doing so attempts to lessen the burden of a brick weighing on your chest. The crocheted yarn simultaneously memorializes the passing of time spent creating and the ongoing dedication to wellness.
The Physicality of Anxiety externalizes the experience of anxiety and dares the mother to articulate their needs, desires and self-ness. The act of making is an act of care. The piece involves crocheting skeins of yarn into rope-like forms with a finished weight equivalent to a common brick (2643g). The crocheting exteriorizes the weight, size and overwhelming presence of anxiety and in doing so attempts to lessen the burden of a brick weighing on your chest. The crocheted yarn simultaneously memorializes the passing of time spent creating and the ongoing dedication to wellness.
I wanted to show how my often 'invisible' but pervasive anxiety exists in the day-to-day, moment-to-moment.... So I created a bag (and collar) to hold the crocheted yarn (known as The Physicality of Anxiety) and was able to record and document the visible presence of the anxiety through a series of photographs.
(June 2021)
*photography credit: Cedar Coast Photography