ESEOSA EDEBIRI
March 27-28 // Home Studio // Chicago, IL
Eseosa Edebiri was born and raised in Northern California. She received her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and now resides in Chicago. Through a combination of digital and handmade processes, she intends to tell her story and simultaneously create space for those around her whose identities are often compromised. Her work addresses a serious need for the representation of black and brown bodies translated into text and imagery and then used within textile-based work, such as weavings, latch hook, prints, and tufted pieces. The text utilized within her work is taken from conversations between friends and in passing. These serve to represent the community in life and happiness, as these communities are often showcased only in death, evoking compassion and empathy, rather than just sympathy. There is a soft, tactile side to her work as well. She aims to create work and build spaces that play off of one's desires to touch and whether or not she allows that touch.
www.eseosaedebiri.com
I started my day with a video chat with a friend from college. Staying at home has changed a lot of people's communication patterns, but this wasn't anything out of the ordinary for us. We talked most days and would video chat once or twice a month, catching up on what's new and what's easiest in person. Though we only chatted for an hour, it felt heavier as we weighed our position in the world and worried about everyone's futures. While we have the privilege of roofs over our heads, there's still the underlying worries from the pandemic, where this will leave the economy, everyone's health and how we will fit into the workforce.
I've been using all of this free time to channel into sides of my artist practice I had always wanted more time for. I've gotten in a good mix of making major updates to my website, sewing in a more fashion-based lens, and more documentation as art.
I've clung to sewing in these 3 weeks of quarantine, especially focusing on these collars. They're made with a process I used to grow more familiar with my sewing machine. I previously used my machine for finishing my textile and fiber based projects that needed a hem or a straight stitch, but I now find more comfort in sewing thanks to this time. It shouldn't be surprising, but the practice really makes a difference. This time a month ago, these would've taken me days at a time to complete, fitting it in between work and life. I finished these two pieces during the first day of my residency, which still gave me time for reflection on my sewing process and life.
These were the last two that I had made a few days prior. I was holding in a lot of anxiety and making work through it, creating these pieces as well as a rug. Playing around with the designs, color, and trim really helped me focus on something beyond the state of the world. These conversations on health and wellness had always made me a bit anxious as I have an autoimmune disease and this is yet another time in my life of deciding how precautious I need to be, but now how the general public act matters as well. As the CDC and news outlets came out on the statistics and demographics of those most at risk, it became glaringly obvious that most people could be more thoughtful of the elderly and the immunocompromised, a big reminder of the care we need to give each other. As a resident of Chicago, I do have to say that the memes of Lori Lightfoot keeping us in are making me laugh.
This is a part of my process of art as documentation. For the previous orange pieces, I thought about spaghetti westerns with a clown theme. These two have more of an American gothic feel.
On the second day, I was thinking about sewing medical masks as an art form for those who want them just for the aesthetic of it. I spent the day, many days, but this one in particular, thinking about how the West makes masks such a fearful concept. I grew up wearing them to protect myself due to my weak immune system. I could always see the fear in strangers' eyes wondering if I had something to give them. I feel for the racism that Asia and Asian Americans are facing through the midst of this pandemic. College was the first place that I saw the East Asian international student population wearing masks when sick. I always appreciated that effort not to get others sick while participating in class. Now, we're seeing the CDC recommend everyone wear masks.
While I didn't spend the second day making this mask, it is the culmination of the thoughts from that day, thinking about the social impact we can create as artists. I'll be making more of these to sell, with profits going towards a group that distributes masks to those most in need. I had started the process, but felt a bit overwhelmed. I think I easily fall into a head space of artistic output equalling success, so I used the time to break out of that habit and take a break. I had also been grappling with what I spend my time on, reminding myself of the importance of art to our culture. I plan on making more of these masks as well as those for medical professionals. This process was a reminder not to let myself burn out.
Take care of yourselves <3
