Laine
For more than a decade, my work has been inspired by the reproductive journey of my mother, Elaine, and other womb-bearing people. From teen pregnancy to abortion, I have listened to, learned from, and made art with people who bravely shared their experiences. My mother’s voice has often been part of this collective narrative; Laine, however, is a long overdue spotlight on our shared story.
Ties That Bind exhibition reception on January 20, 2024. Image curtesy of Vision Gallery.
Title List
Click on the links below to learn about each piece.
It came out negative
A reproduction of a letter my mom wrote to my dad on a family vacation. It is paired with a reproduced photo taken during the same trip.
A Good Catholic Family
An image of my mother holding me in my baptism dress, reproduced in cross-stitched embroidery.
Everybody Loved Me
Everybody Loved Me is a hardcover book that includes photographs of every yearbook signature referencing the artist as a baby in her mother's year book, as well as photographs of her mother in high school from 1992 to 1995.
More Time Crying
An image of my pregnant mother and father dressed up for winter formal in my grandparents’ living room, imprinted onto a handkerchief.
Bad at It
Digitized VHS footage of me as a toddler. The first clip was recorded by my mother, Elaine. Part 5 of the audio interview is paired with footage of my grandmother holding me.
a Good Time for pregnant girls
A poem my mom wrote about her pregnancy for her 6th period class, reproduced in embroidery.
Didn’t Have a choice
A family photograph reproduced on cotton and satin, stitched together with gold thread.
They would take care of you
A copy of my legal documents transferring guardianship from my parents to my maternal grandparents etched onto an acrylic plate.
That day never came
Two reproduced family photos of the same scene — one of me and my mother, and one without. An outline of her body was stitched onto the bottom photo.
Elaine
Elaine is a handmade book that was created to accompany the second showing of this work at Modified Arts in the summer of 2024. The book features audio transcripts and images of the source material used in the mixed media pieces.
Press play for a video preview of the book.
Laine exhibited as part of two group exhibitions in 2024, Ties that Bind at Vision Gallery and Living Histories at Modified Arts. Pieces were also included in Amplified, Vol. 4 at the Phoenix Art Museum in January 2025.
Artist Statement (continued)
Laine was born out of an interview between my mother and me, originally recorded for Young Mothers in 2015. In the captured audio, Elaine shares her experience as a pregnant high school student during the 1990’s in rural Arizona. Her story details the complicated family dynamics, joys, and heartbreaks that came with the unplanned pregnancy and my birth.
In 2023, I revisited the interview to create nine separate audio segments, each holding their own meaning, and imbedded them into objects that viewers can interact with. I then developed mixed media and fiber artworks to visually represent each part of the story. Unified by my mother’s voice and our family’s archive, I experimented with photography, sound, and tactility to explore how memories are influenced by formative emotions and existing documentation.
Through made and found objects, visitors were invited to listen to parts of the recording as they view each piece, or follow along by reading the transcript and seeing reproductions of the source material in the book created to accompany the installation.
2023 - 2024