OF THE NEED TO CREATE

My name is Christi Owen, the owner and Creatrix of Diamond & Shadow. My work focuses on sewing as craft and concept. I tell stories with fibers, form, symbols, and found objects. I seek to marry traditional hand sewing and making techniques in a modern context. Often I reference historical fashion silhouettes that harken back to antique themes, such as Victorian mourning practices and symbolism. The connection to the hand and the tactile sensation of the cloth is key to my body of work. Fabric quality has the ability to evoke emotion and give the wearer a connection, only known to them. It can be soothing or unsettling; familiar or "other" and strange. I am exploring the relationship with textile, craft, and what came before it's creation as the "other" and unknown. The modern person has no connection to their wardrobe, no emotional investment, unlike our ancestors who poured hours of artistry into needlework. The stories that are inherent in that work have been lost and deserve a voice once again. My work seeks to reestablish that heirloom quality along with the emotional connection. I intend to fully explore the notion of "other": the darkness, the uncomfortable place, the guttural reaction that all people have to life and death, and how they deal with it. My continued experience of otherness through profound loss, being a queer woman, and my experimentation with this concept, forms the central thread that weaves through my collections.