I began creating these combinations of felted wool and eggshells during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place period that began in March of 2020. This body of work is titled ‘Adversatio;’ I tend to name bodies of work in Latin to link them to scientific nomenclature of specimens. I also like the slight distancing from everyday language that can enfold meaning in a less direct fashion. Adversatio translates to ‘opposition,’ which fits both the physicality and themes of these sculptures that bring together eggshells and wool. Eggshells serve a role of being both protective and breakable; they speak to both fragility and strength. While a broken eggshell may suggest destruction it can also be evidence of new life or life-sustaining sustenance. Wool fibers are loose, soft, fluffy, and amorphous, yet they can be shaped into firm, dense, solid felt. These works are a response to the feelings of uncertainty, fear, loss, protection, and hope amid a pandemic. 

For me the process of making these pieces is soothing and absorbing; needle felting on a small scale is an exacting yet repetitive activity. The addition of eggshells means I ride the line between satisfaction and destruction-- or change of direction-- depending on my fine motor skills and the vicissitudes of calcium carbonate shards. 

The resulting square panels bring me a sense of order; while each individual piece is a reaction to specific shell fragments, all espouse clean lines and tight control. Neither eggshells nor wool are precious commodities, yet I find both animal products to be rather wondrous upon deep examination. I hope the intimacy and detail captured in these pieces communicate wonder along with the sense of unlikely opposition on multiple levels.