Layers of Meaning

Portrait of a Textile Worker

Sharon Boggon has a pointer to an incredible fiber art project, Portrait of a Textile Worker. This is a 2 year art project, creating a quilted portrait of an unnamed textile sweatshop worker. The portrait will be made "entirely out of clothing labels. It will be approximately 8 feet high and 9 feet wide when completed." There a photo at the site of the planned portrait. You can catch a glimpse of the work in progress. The artist, Terese Agnew, is the creator of intricate embroidered quilts, such as "The D.O.T. Straightens Things Out".

Agnew is in need of tags to complete her portrait. You can send the tags from "inside your clothing to complete the Portrait of a Textile Worker... Most labels are useful, but I urgently need gray and black labels (I can use labels that are gray on either side if the labels is a solid woven material). Those featuring proper names of designers are especially poignant in this work." Agnew estimates that she will need tags until January 2005.

Want to know even more? The journal, Behind the Label, features on article on the project, which looks at some of the political issues and inspiration behind the project.

The story of the unidentified woman in the portrait is in an article from On Wisconsin.

image: Portrait of a Textile Worker by Terese Agnew (in progress)