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Helen at 100
Needlework on pillow filled with newspapers from 10/9/5, 10/27/5, 12/27/5
17" x 17" x 6"
On October 9, 2005, my grandmother passed away at the age of 99. While expected at such an age, there was a great deal of confidence that she would make it to 100. As a Chicagoan, she was a lifelong Sox fan who wanted to see them win the World Series.
The pillow is a result of these three events combined. After her passing I began to hand stitch her likeness from one of the last photos I took of her onto one of her pillows I took as a keepsake. Using process to create destiny, the foundation of the work was laid out during the World Series games, thus sustaining her presence in the moment. The work continued to develop and concluded on December 27, her 100th birthday. At that point three newspapers from her date of death, the victory of the White Sox and her birthday were all placed inside the pillow and closed.
With the closing of the pillow complete, I also had closure with the experience. In the end, the pillow acts as the evidence of the ritual: to capture a moment of her life as well as to preserve her in a temporal space.
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