Restricted Vision

I designed and constructed Restricted Vision to hang "in the round" at eye level so that viewers see both sides and look through the openings in the quilt surface. My goal is for the viewer to look not only at the work, but to see into and out of the small and veiled openings in order to experience restricted vision. My work comments on imposed conditions, even self-imposed, that limit and constrict. The cloth prison alters and restricts and defines what both the insider and outsider see and feel. I encourage viewers to decide what cloth prisons societies establishes, who dictates what the cloth prison will be, and how the imprisoned respond.

At the time I made Restricted Vision, Afghani women were invisible to the world. I was, of course, thinking of the burq'a. It was nearly impossible to find photos of Afghani women at the time; and when one could be found, the viewer saw only the burq'a form, not the woman. The burq'a led my thoughts to other cloth prisons, including those that "fashion" imposes (undergarments, outer garments, shoes with high heels or pointed toes, �).