rena wood

 

Cellular Memory, 2018

50 x 72 inches

vintage textiles, cotton embroidery floss.

Statement

My work gives physical form to the ephemeral sense of memory. I use materials that hold the memories of past makers and pay homage by reconstructing their handwork and combining it with my own. I construct and deconstruct my materials to show a suspension between formation and falling apart, the acts of remembering and forgetting, and to represent time passing and time stopped. I work in union with the previous maker, using their handwork as a guide for my own stitching and deconstructing their work. The time I spend working is marked by each stitch, knot, and repetitive act of my hands. The result of my slow and repetitious handwork connects my process to the biological phenomena occurring all the time, gradually growing, multiplying, or deteriorating. I use textile processes to create drawings, both sculpturally and on the surface of cloth, as a way to explore the visual aspects of how memories might appear in our brain and the changes that occur as memories are lost. I attempt to make visual representations of the mysterious parts of life that remain unseen.

 

RENA WOOD

Assistant Professor,

Tennessee Tech University/Appalachian Center for Craft,
Smithville, TN

Rena Wood received her BFA in Fibers from the Kansas City Art Institute and MFA from the Department of Craft/Material Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is an Assistant Professor in Tennessee Tech University’s School of Art, Craft, and Design at the Appalachian Center for Craft in TN. Previously, she was a Visiting Instructor at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania and a Visiting Assistant Professor at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. Rena has been an Artist in Residence at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft in Houston, TX, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN, and at the Craft Alliance in St. Louis, MO. Her work has been exhibited nationally in solo and group exhibitions.