One of the most traditional of American quilting formats is the nine-patch. I wanted to explore the variation in Khmer fashion during the Angkor era within this format. Digital photographs taken of various apsara in the greater Angkor area of Cambodia were manipulated and then printed on fabric. The features of the skirt draping were highlighted with fabric ink and beading. 25”W by 36”H (excluding hanger). 2009. Donated to United Cambodian Cultural Center, Long Beach CA.

This is another variation on the nine-patch format. In this instance, I was interested in seeing what the piece would look like in indigo blue. Indigo is one of the most accessible natural dyes available to Khmer traditional weavers. Digital photographs taken of various apsara in the greater Angkor area of Cambodia were manipulated and then printed on fabric. The features of the skirt draping were highlighted with fabric ink and beading. 25”W by 36”H (excluding hanger). 2009. Donated to United Cambodian Cultural Center, Long Beach CA.

In many Buddhist sanctuaries within the Angkor complex, fabric hangings called crocodiles are hung from the ceiling close to the Buddha image. This is my interpretation of this form. I use seven different apsara images and many colors of reproduction fabric to reflect the traditional hangings. 26”W by 32”H (excluding hanger). 2009. Donated to United Cambodian Cultural Center, Long Beach CA.

As shown on the home page my digital images are included in most of my pieces. Here, the digital image has been manipulated, printed on fabric and then deconstructed. The long pennants refer to the crocodile fabric hangings found in Buddhist temples. Handmade bracelets purchased at the Angkor Wat site are the rings at the top of the piece. 29”W by 46”H (excluding hanger). 2009. Donated to United Cambodian Cultural Center, Long Beach CA.

This is yet another variation on the nine-patch format. Here I was interested in drawing the viewer’s attention to slight variations in the sampot (skirts). Archeologists have used these variations to date the various temple complexes. Digital photographs taken of various apsara in the greater Angkor area of Cambodia were manipulated and then printed on fabric. The features of the skirt draping were highlighted with fabric ink and beading. The triangular trim evokes decorations used in contemporary Buddhist temples. 25”W by 36”H (excluding hanger). 2009. Donated to United Cambodian Cultural Center, Long Beach CA.

Apsara sampot (skirts) have elaborate folds and pleats. Made from a length of uncut cloth, apsara (and contemporary dancers) are sewn into the sampot. A digital photograph taken of an apsara in the greater Angkor area of Cambodia was manipulated and then printed on fabric. Draping is highlighted with fabric cutting, piecing and restructuring. The circular shapes evoke some of the shapes on the carvings. 33”W by 56”H (excluding hanger). 2009. Donated to United Cambodian Cultural Center, Long Beach CA.

Some of the folds and pleats that characterize apsara sampot (skirts) have dimensionality to them. This aspect is emphasized with exaggerated trapunto (stuffing to create three dimensionality in fabric). Piecing contemporary hand-woven fabric in traditional patterns evokes the sampot fabric itself. A digital photograph taken of an apsara in the greater Angkor area of Cambodia was manipulated and then printed on fabric. 33”W by 56”H (excluding hanger). 2009. Donated to United Cambodian Cultural Center, Long Beach CA.

This is another exploration of the elaborate folds and pleats that characterize apsara sampot (skirts). A digital photograph taken of an apsara in the greater Angkor area of Cambodia was manipulated and then printed on fabric and forms the spine of this piece. Circular, fan-like shapes evoke some of the curved skirt shapes on the carvings. 35”W by 62”H (excluding hanger). 2009. Donated to United Cambodian Cultural Center, Long Beach CA.

Extensive archeological expeditions have been carried out over decades to fill in the origins of the Angkor civilization. This piece connects apsara to archeological findings. Replicates of a manipulated digital photograph makes an archeological layer, as do the sections using contemporary hand woven textiles collected in the region. 34”W by 60”H (excluding hanger). 2009. Donated to United Cambodian Cultural Center, Long Beach CA.

In this piece I interpreted the apsara sampot relief carving in fabric. Again, I used the two-column format for easier comparison of the abstracted drapery. On the bottom, I hung miniature quilts with different apsara photographs. 34”W by 60”H (excluding hanger). 2009. Donated to United Cambodian Cultural Center, Long Beach CA.

The format of this piece is a traditional American quilt pattern, the four patch, which I enlarged. I was interested in creating fabric by copying motifs from the apsara sampot (skirt) fabric and in other stone carvings and contrasting that to the thousand-year old carvings. Digital photographs taken of various apsara in the greater Angkor area of Cambodia were manipulated and then printed on fabric. The features of the skirt draping were highlighted with fabric inks. Additional fabric created with fabric paints and inks. 25”W by 30”H (excluding hanger). 2009. Donated to Friends Without A Border (Angkor Children’s Hospital), New York NY.

Many researchers have analyzed the temple complexes of greater Angkor as sacred architecture; the long causeways symbolizing the distance from the mundane to the sacred and the towers themselves evoking the sacred Mount Meru. This piece is a floor plan of the main Angkor Wat temple. It includes digital photographs of apsara at the points the actual sculptures are placed; reproduction fabric sourced in Southeast Asia represents the rest of the structure. At the top is an elevation of the three towers so familiar to visitors. 20”W by 60”H (including “causeway”). 2010. Purchased for a donation to Friends Without A Border (Angkor Children’s Hospital), New York NY.

Many parts of the Angkor complex were destroyed over the years; some by the encroaching jungle and some by iconoclasts. While much visited sites such as Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom have been restored, many hundreds have not. The heap of broken images refers to the collapse and destruction of the complex over time. The background fabric is hand woven, and was collected in the region. 38”H by 47”H. 2010. Collection of the artist.

I keep retuning to the curvilinear shape to explore elaborate folds and pleats that characterize apsara sampot (skirts). A digital photograph taken of an apsara in the greater Angkor area of Cambodia was manipulated and then printed on fabric. Circular, fan-like shapes evoke some of the curved skirt shapes on the carvings. 35”W by 62”H (excluding hanger). 2009. Donated to the Khmer Gallery, Philadelphia PA.

In 1906, the French sculptor August Rodin saw Cambodian dancers who were touring French cities. He created a series of sketches and watercolors of the dancers that created controversy when they were shown in New York and in Phnom Penh. I explain this story with laminated vintage images and a power point slide. This piece explores cross-cultural meanings of the mudra (hand position). 33”W by 40”H. 2010. Available for donation.

French sculptor August Rodin did watercolors of visiting Cambodian dancers. This piece is a study of his piece, and an exploration of what made these works controversial when they were shown in New York and in Phnom Penh. I illustrate this story with laminated vintage images and a power point slide. 33”W by 40”H. 2010. Available for donation.

I like to explore continuity and contrasts in cross-cultural traditions. This watercolor sets digital, manipulated images of apsara feet with a photograph of the feet of a contemporary young woman. The background textile is hand-woven hol (ikat) collected in the region. 41”W by 75”H. 2010. Available for donation.

Digital close-up images of the intricate belts worn by apsara form the central area of this piece. The framing fabric was found in the region: it has traditional royal motifs. Antique mother of pearl buttons were chosen to refer to the shell bracelets found in high-status pre-Khmer burials. Embroidery and other threads. 28”W by 70”H (excluding hanger). 2010. Donated to Friends Without a Border (Angkor Children’s Hospital), New York NY.

This is a take on the classic quilting nine-patch and the famous Andy Warhol format. In this case, copies of a digital photograph were printed on fabric after being manipulated and pieced together. Each was painted, and long threads and buttons added. 24”W by 30”H (excluding hanger). 2008. Donated to Friends Without a Border, Angkor Children's Hospital.

I like to contrast textile traditions and was pleased to find this American barkcloth with a Chinoiserie design. Since I also refer to Asian design in my work, I thought it would be interesting to place two derivative interpretations of Asian textile traditions side by side. In this case, the photograph appliqued on the left side of the piece shows the apsara as carved at Angkor. The right side panel is my abstraction of that image. 30”W by 68”H (excluding hanger). 2010. Available for donation.

The highest form of Khmer weavers art is hol (resist dyed or ikat). This piece uses a contemporary ikat textile that has sacred motifs incorporated in the weave. I have thought about what my sacred motifs would be, what are the things I value, and have added them in the smaller quilts on the top and bottom; my list includes potable water and antibiotics. 38”W by 52”H (excluding hanger). 2010. Available for donation .

India exerted tremendous influence on the Khmer civilization, and so did China. This piece contrasts images of femininity from Angkor and from the Summer Palace outside Beijing. Beading as added to embellish the story of femininity. Chain stitching traces traditional Khmer line work, and the points at the bottom evoke fabric hangings in Buddhist temples in Cambodia. 30”W by 48”H (excluding hanger). 2010. Donated to the Summit Medical Center .

In this piece I interpreted one apsara sampot relief carving in fabric. The 9th century Bakheng style is done in pieced fabric and repeated in prints of my digital photograph on the bottom. The large beads at the waist evoke the elaborate belts worn by apsara. 29”W by 55”H (excluding hanger). 20010. Donated to Mekong Quilts, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Apsara carvings are often in panels; this is my interpretation of the panel format. Digital photographs taken in Cambodia were manipulated and then printed on fabric. Other fabric with traditional motifs was obtained in Southeast Asia. Czech wedding beads refer to the cross-cultural tradition of highly decorated apparel of young women on formal occasions. 27”W by 45”H (excluding hanger). 2010. Donated to New Hope for Cambodia, Baltimore MD.

I was interested in placing apsara images into a 19th century daguerreotype format to capture some of the western excitement of the “discovery” of the Khmer civilization. The gold and black fabric framing the images has traditional royal motifs and was sourced in Southeast Asia. 28”W by 60”H (excluding hanger). Donated to Mekong Quilts, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

A length of contemporary hand woven fabric in intense blue made for contemporary sampot was used as the basis for this piece. Extreme close ups of the pleats on one apsara were printed in pink on fabric with an ink jet printer. The folded fabric trim is made in the same way banana leaf and flower arrangements are. 36”W by 58”H (excluding hanger). Available for donation.

Close-up images of the intricate skirts worn by apsara. A digital photograph taken at the Angkot Wat complex in Cambodia was manipulated and then printed on fabric. Other pastel toned fabric with traditional royal motifs was obtained in Southeast Asia. Antique mother of pearl buttons were chosen to refer to the shell bracelets found in high-status pre-Khmer burials. Embroidery and other threads. 28”W by 70”H (excluding hanger). Donated to Mekong Quilts, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Many artists have visited Angkor since it was “discovered” in the 19th century and I wanted to explore the pen and ink drawings as well as the photographic images. These vignettes are of the central Angkor Wat complex and were drawn with fabric pens on hand-painted fabric. The piece is hand quilted and embellished with beads and objects that evoke Pre-Khmer grave goods. 36”W by 75”H (excluding hanger). Available for donation.

This small piece was a play on scale. Throughout the Angkor complex, bas relief carvings vary a great deal in size. I wanted to experiment with the same themes on a smaller scale. 24”W by 27”H (excluding hanger). Donated to the Summit Medical Center.

The apsara carved in the walls of Angkor Wat are dancers (along with their many other attributes). I was wondering about samenesses and differences between dance forms as they evolved in Southeast Asia and in Europe. The European artist I most associate with dancers is Degas, so I began to conceptualize a piece that combined dancers depicted by unknown Khmer artists with those painted by Degas. What you see here in the center panel are Khmer apsara. I refer to Degas by introducing the holographic postcard from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The legs are modeled on the legs of the famous Degas sculpture, the Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer. 45”W by 24”H (excluding hanger). 2011. Available for donation.

This piece is also an exploration of dance, but focuses in on a single dancer. When I found a fabulous doll’s fancy ball gown

August Rodin, the leading French sculptor of the late 19th century, attended a performance of a touring Cambodian classical dance troupe. He was struck by the very different way these dancers moved their bodies and painted a series of watercolors of them. Rodin was a friend of Isadora Duncan, the famous modern dancer, and had her to his studio. In this piece, I have tried to capture aspects of Rodin’s process of exploration. I show images of Cambodian classical dance as depicted on postcards of the period, and next to them a few of Rodin’s watercolors of those dancers. On the other side of the piece, I have copies of photographs of Isadora Duncan and some watercolors Rodin did of her dancing. It is interesting to me that the paintings of dancers from two very different traditions should end up looking so much alike if created by a single artist. This adds support to the concept of Orientalism, which is that Western observers of exotic cultures process their observations through their own cultural filters. 39”W by 57”H (excluding hanger). 2011. Available for donation.

Sometimes change happens slowly in cultures, and sometimes change happens rapidly. This is true in the case of fashion. Some fashions change slowly (men’s ties) and some fashions are characterized by fast change (women’s clothing). I decided to look at change over time in the Cambodian/Khmer culture. The images in this piece show the oldest fashion recorded in the carvings, and the persistence of those fashion elements in the sampot (skirt wrappers) worn by older women. Traditional Khmer fashion also re-emerges in wedding dresses, where the pleats and belts of ancient dress are referenced. And, as everywhere the world over, contemporary fashion is just a hanger away. 45”W by 56”H (excluding hanger). 2011. Available for donation.

In the course of research I was doing on the “discovery” of Angkor Wat, I came across Helen Churchill Candee, author of the first major book about Angkor Wat written in English. Curious about this woman, I discovered many incredible things about her. Just a few of her many roles are featured on the cover of this soft cloth book I made as an homage. 14”W by 14”H. 2011. Collection of the Norwalk Museum.

Candee earned much of her income by writing books that became quite popular. This page calls attention to these achievements. Many of her books are are decorating books, such as the Book of Tapestry and Jacobean Furniture. She is credited with being among the first generation of interior designers, and with being one of the first to emphasize combining antiques with contemporary furniture. Candee was also a prolific contributor to the best selling magazines of her day; a few are featured here. 14”W by 14”H. 2011. Collection of the Norwalk Museum.

This page shows why she was so prolific; she was engaged in so many fields. She had an unerring sense of which fields were becoming more important in mass culture and so her writing was always topical. She published a series of books on home decorating just as that field was becoming professionalized. 14”W by 14”H. 2011. Collection of the Norwalk Museum.

Helen Churchill Candee was a networker long before we coined a word for that behavior. On this page I wanted to draw attention to some of her more unusual connections, such at Theodore Roiosevelt, King George V and Ernest Hemingway.

One of Helen Churchill Candee’s earliest books was How Women May Earn a Living. It was influential in its day and is still considered one of the most important books in the feminist literature. In her own life, she was largely self-supporting. She was an active and influential suffragist, and was selected to lead the large march in Washington, DC. 14”W by 14”H. 2011. Collection of the Norwalk Museum.

In April, 1912, Helen Churchill Candee was on the Titanic the night it sank. She managed to board lifeboat #6 and joined the effort to rescue other passengers. Hers was the first account of what it was like to have been on the Titanic written by a passenger. An on-board romance included a clandestine trip to the prow of the ship and standing with arms outstretched, a pose that is now the iconic image of the film Titanic. Helen Churchill Candee was a inspiration for the character of Rose in the film. 14”W by 14”H. 2011. Collection of the Norwalk Museum.

Unable to get a divorce in New York, Helen Churchill Candee moved with her children to the territory of Oklahoma. At the time, people were fascinated by the “wild west” and the frontier and were eager to read books on the subject. Helen Churchill Candee’s book, An Oklahoma Romance, was quite popular, and important in the development of this genre of fiction. She published the book just as Oklahoma achieved statehood. Popular fascination with Oklahoma culminated in the blockbuster musical on Broadway. 14”W by 14”H. 2011. Collection of the Norwalk Museum.

In 1922, Helen Churchill Candee travelled to Angkor Wat. This image shows her seated on an elephant in front of the central temple of the complex. She took this trip at a time when exploration was a mania among Europeans eager to undertake travel to exotic lands, and she was the first English speaker to document her experiences in a book. 14”W by 14”H. 2011. Collection of the Norwalk Museum.

I discovered Helen Churchill Candee as I was researching stories about Angkor Wat and the European “discovery” of Cambodia. When I read that her book was the first book on Angkor in English I realized she was important, and decided to explore her biography. I had no idea how important she was, and in so many fields. All that work led to the creation of this book. The pocket on this page holds a copy of her book, Magnificent Angkor. 14”W by 14”H. 2011. Collection of the Norwalk Museum.

Throughout this project I felt close to my subject. I, too, am a feminist, explorer, designer, author and innovator. I live along the Connecticut coast a few towns over from Norwalk, the town where Helen Churchill Candee grew up and married. Today, girls and young women who are close friends will call themselves BFFs or “Best Friends Forever”. It seemed to me that this sentiment was a good way to end this book. And I am very grateful the book is now in the collection of a museum in a town she would have called home. 14”W by 14”H. 2011. Collection of the Norwalk Museum.