Ruth Coffman, Student Work

Frank Porter 

Tea stained cotton, sheer nylon, thread, fabric marker

79"x69"x22"

Memory and family are frequent subjects of my work, and in frank porter, I explore how I mourn and remember my grandfather. My grandfather died when I was quite young, and I have spent far more of my life without him than I did knowing him. With such few clear memories of him, each one is a treasure that I wanted to capture in this work. The sheer curtain hanging above is a shroud between reality and memory, pulled back for a moment to reveal what time does to everything. My fabric drawings are a collection of the few objects and moments that I retain about my grandfather: the house he always showed me how to draw, his can of diet coke, his old bb gun that my brother and I lost in the woods one day, a bluegill caught on a cane pole, a photo him when he was young. The sheer drawings are hazy versions of these things touched by time. Others memories float above, caught for a moment in the net of a dream. In this piece, I invite others to visit their own loved ones in the memory-spaces of their minds.

In process #1, using tea to stain the cotton fabric. 

In process #2, drawing with fabric marker. 

In process #3 - drawing with fabric marker. 

Reflection/Notes:

I used tea to stain the cotton fabric. I wanted to use fabric because I felt the tactile quality and the association we have with this material visually communicates moments of nostalgia. I also wanted a sense of time and the layering of fabric allowed me to achieve this concept.