Jorja Timms
Art is a therapeutic process for many people. It is how I came to art and how I continue to use art. The only way I could make art this year was by making it about the stress I am feeling about making the work. It began in my journal, a comforting, private and safe space for me to be vulnerable and honest with myself. Among the many confessions I made between those pages were silly little remarks that I found myself crying and then laughing at. I turned these remarks into drawings, enlarging them and removing the pages for them to hide in. I then drew these remarks onto fabric and embroidered them. Embroidery is another therapeutic process I often turn to, and my hope in doing this is to sit with the remark and get to know it better; where it came from, why I was feeling it and how I feel about it now.
I am terrified of showing my work, because I am terrified of being vulnerable. If 2020 has taught me anything, it is that we are all vulnerable in one way or another. Being isolated and stuck with only myself to talk to a lot of the time forces me to listen to my inner monologue and embrace it. Creating these works was an act of letting go and bringing my negative thoughts and emotions into a space where I can laugh at them and hopefully other people will laugh with me. Maybe this is how to make vulnerability look like art.
LISTEN, 2020
Punch needle embroidery with acrylic yarn
COMPLAINING, 2020
Punch needle embroidery with acrylic yarn
910mm x 750mm
SILLY, 2020
Punch needle embroidery with acrylic yarn
910mm x 750mm