Jodi Colella
Stinger, 2018
Hundreds of found doilies dyed black and sewn onto a 9-gauge, hand built armature 7 x 24 x 17 feet
Stinger looms larger than life. Its lacy exoskeleton is crafted from found doilies that suggest a history of needlework and domesticity that is left ambiguous. Dyed black and collaged into a mosaic of patterns, they now form the permeable body of a creature feared for its venomous sting and quick shift from repose to attack. Balancing tradition and innovation I used needlework to infuse renewed power to craft traditions often dismissed as feminine. Found objects-the everyday and invisible-are reworked and repurposed, and placed on a pedestal for scrutiny where the psychological is made physical in the way the one form materializes from another.
Jodi Colella
What I Didn’t Want to Say in the First Place, 2018
Oil Paper, graphite, charcoal 6 ft x 53 in, one of a series of 4
Giving voice to the lost women makers of these lace remnants from making Stinger.
Jodi Colella
Thumbprints, 2018
Encaustic relief from doily snippets left from building Stinger 19 tiles, each 4x4x1.5 inches
Encaustic reliefs of the doily remnants leftover from constructing Stinger. Each impression represents the lost identity of the maker whose efforts went unrecorded. Each tile measures 4x4x1.5 inches. Encaustic wax on wood panel. Oil stick for color.
Jodi Colella
Once Was (Remembrance), 2019
2-sided obelisk created with donated clothing, black velvet, black canvas, red embroidery yarn, earth magnets 12 ft x 5 ft
Once Was is a memorial for all those lost to the opioid epidemic in the prime of their lives. This 12-foot, 2-sided tower is covered with 3,600 poppies that are stitched from donated clothing and then sewn onto a plush black velvet foundation. Each of the 3,600 poppies represents 200 individuals lost.
Jodi Colella
Once Was (Remembrance) detail, 2019
Donated clothing, black velvet, black canvas, red embroidery yarn, earth magnets 12 ft x 5 ft
Detail image of the individual poppies created for the memorial. Each is from donated clothing and stitched with red yarn. And each of the 3600 poppies represents 200 individuals perished in the opioid epidemic between 1999 to 2019.
Jodi Colella
Call Me Rose, 2019
Assorted clothing, red dye, wire, threads, red embroidery thread 30x29x23 in.
My most recent headware sculpture created for the Danforth Museum of Art for their exhibition 'Dressed'. It is an elaborate composition created from gendered clothing dyed red and sewn to a hand wrought armature. It addresses materials, imagery, iconography and memory while questioning how we cover, adorn, and envelop the body in the guise we present to the outside world.
Jodi Colella
Unidentified Woman – Veiled, 2018
Found tintype, silk 4x5 inches
Struck by the poignant anonymity of the Historic Northampton's daguerreotypes I was inspired to scour flea markets for similar images which I then altered with raw and idiosyncratic stitches that call attention to the Unidentified Woman whose name is long forgotten. This Obsolete photographic process aligns with today's social media, both as a means that allow people to alter their public identity through the curation of carefully chosen images. I stitch together past and present identity politics and insert myself to provide an alternative chronology where expression replaces suppression and sewing equals activism.
Jodi Colella
Unidentified Woman – Wistful, 2018
Found tintype, cotton thread 3x4 inches
Struck by the poignant anonymity of the Historic Northampton's daguerreotypes I was inspired to scour flea markets for similar images which I then altered with raw and idiosyncratic stitches that call attention to the Unidentified Woman whose name is long forgotten. This Obsolete photographic process aligns with today's social media, both as a means that allow people to alter their public identity through the curation of carefully chosen images. I stitch together past and present identity politics and insert myself to provide an alternative chronology where expression replaces suppression and sewing equals activism.
Jodi Colella
Shelter in Place No. 1-4, 2020
Found snapshots, scanned, enlarged and printed on an epson ink jet printer, ultraboard mount, aluminum frame, embroidery, lace, fibers, 24x24 in.
Women's reign confined to domestic spaces in 20th century patriarchal society. A study of their invisibility within the material culture of the time.
