Doily Cakes
This project began as a fascination with the intricate lace patterns of hand-made doilies, inspired by memories of sugar-hardened doilies at my great aunt’s house. I remember that when no one was looking, I would try to lick the doilies because I knew they were sweet.
As I worked, I became fascinated with doilies and embroidery work as rejected symbols of femininity and domesticity, as well as with the labor of the women who made them. I began to think about each of these women, as individual as the one-of-a-kind pieces they created, and how each one captures her private process, and a moment in time. Working with such feminine objects feels like a taboo, especially in a society where doilies and embroidery work are relegated to the world of the second-hand bin, something to be discarded and associated with a time and a culture that has passed.