I went out to West Stockbridge, MA this weekend with a friend to see the Tiny Pricks Project exhibit at The Foundry and to participate in a workshop and the reception. I had not heard of the project until my friend emailed to see if I was interested, but it was right up my alley, just as she expected.
The artist behind the project Diana Weymar began embroidering quotes from Donald Trump onto vintage textiles in early 2018. Others soon joined her fiber protest and she now has 2500 pieces in the collection, which has been exhibited across the country.
When my friend invited me to join her at the workshop, I started typing in my email response that I would have to think about what quote to use, but before I had even finished typing the sentence, I knew. I am an alumna of The University of Virginia and on my graduation day, I walked down the Lawn from the Rotunda just as white supremacist marchers did 20 years later. While recognizing that Thomas Jefferson was himself a slave owner and that slaves were most likely integral to the running of the University for its first 50 years, I was still shocked and appalled by the images of torches and Nazi flags at an institution dedicated to truth, honor, reason, freedom, and education. That is why I decided to focus on Trump’s statement about the march.
To create the piece, I traced a photo of the Rotunda and Trump’s words onto a vintage guest towel that I had in my collection, taught myself a couple of embroidery stitches, and created this, my very first piece of embroidery:
