Connie Rohman
Topaz Internment Camp, 2021
Vintage Kimoro fabric, artist dyed fabric, cotton batting, cotton backing, thread 48" high x 52" wide
My mother was a teacher at the WWII Japanese concentration camp at Topaz, Utah. This piece is from a map that details how the Topaz camp was divided into blocks which held 250-300 people in 12 barracks, with a mess hall and latrine. The camp was surrounded by barbed wire fences and watch towers. The red lines reference the Japanese idea of kintsugi, which treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. The red lines represent how the Japanese internees’ lives were indelibly shattered when they were imprisoned in the camps, and their resilience in the struggle to put their lives back together after they were released.
Connie Rohman
Homage to Bach, 2022
artist dyed cotton fabric, embroidery floss, frame 16" x 20" framed
I was immediately drawn to Bach’s flute sonatas when I heard them as a beginning flute player in high school. I have listened to them repeatedly over the years, each time struck by the poignant and compelling emotions that the different movements evoke. This artwork is my homage to Bach. After making a deconstructed screen print on fabric, I listened to the flute sonatas as I slow stitched my visual interpretation of the music.
Connie Rohman
Now and Then, 2019
artist dyed cottons, batting, cotton backing, thread 30" high x 60" wide
In “Now & Then”, I have considered where I have been and where I am in my life. The dynamic lines in this piece spell out Now And Then, one word per panel. Each panel shows layered lines that create the letters which spell out each word. The lines were created from fabric on which I wrote my thoughts and feelings about the concepts of Now & Then. In the first panel, the writing on the lines are a reflection of my life ‘Now’. The second panel lines are a musing about the connective power of the word ‘And’, and how my life is connected from the present to the past. The final panel’s lines are memories of significant moments in my past. The writing on the lines imbue hidden meaning to the overall piece. The viewer can catch glimpses of words, but the content remains obscured.
