Sonja Czekalski
A Quilted Statement, 2020
Paper Box- Handmade milkweed and abaca paper, handmade flax paper, embroidery thread, adhesive, and fabric. Statement- Handmade flax paper dyed with soy sauce and red wine, scratched with needle tip tool and stitched with embroidery thread, 16"x 22”x 4"
Sonja Czekalski
Beldam Cloak (Detail), 2021
My grandmothers fabrics, my old bed sheets, yarn, embroidery floss, flax paper pulp, natural dyes, RIT dye, red wine, seaweed, assorted plants,pennyroyal herbs, human hair, and adhesive on handmade gampi paper. 73" x 50" x 64"
Beldam Cloak Detail Image
Sonja Czekalski
Tiny Dancer Dress (Detail), 2020
handmade gampi paper fabric, steel wire, tulle, yarn, embroidery thread, adhesive, flax, abaca, and kozo paper pulp, black walnut dye, seaweed, red wine, and watercolor. 24" x 26" x 27"
Tiny Dancer Dress Detail (Back)
Sonja Czekalski
Wedding Dress (27,648 Women Per Day) Detail, 2020
Steel wire, aluminum wire, yarn, kozo paper pulp, flax paper pulp. 58" x 62" x 47"
Detail of Bust
Sonja Czekalski
Wedding Dress (27,648 Women Per Day), 2020
Steel wire, aluminum wire, yarn, kozo paper pulp, flax paper pulp. 58" x 62" x 47"
Sonja Czekalski
Her Honour, 2021
Handmade flax paper and pulp, red wine stained lace, steel wire, and thread on a plaster cast. 12”x 17”x 8”
Her Honor is a sculptural collar made in 2021 shortly after the passing of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. The collar is a compilation of women, drawn with steel wire as their bones. Handmade flax paper as their skin, and pieces of my grandmother's lace as traces of their clothing. Fragmented text is printed on each woman's skin,from transcripts of Supreme Court Cases in which RBG fought for justice, equality, and empowerment for the marginalized. These cases include United States vs. Virginia (1995), Olmstead vs. L.C (1999), Ledbetter vs. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company (2007), Obergefell vs. Hodges, Director, Ohio Department of Health (2015), and Whole Woman’s Health vs. Hellerstedt, Commissioner, and Texas Department of State Health Services (2016). These monumental cases addressed the discrimination of women, poverty, the handicapped, and the LGBTQIA community. At the time I made this, I wanted to create a collar that Ginsberg could wear as a physical reminder of all of the women, minorities, and people she continues to serve and save. A reminder that equality for the marginalized is still an uphill battle. As the threat of overturning Roe v. Wade has become reality, and Obergefell v. Hodges is next, Her Honor commemorates Ginsberg’s legacy and I hope can spark courage and strength for those who need it in this time of political turmoil.
Sonja Czekalski
October, 2024
My grandmother’s fabric, sequins, beads, antique frame, and 28 days of my menstrual cycle. 18"x24"
Sonja Czekalski
Innards, 2021
My grandmother’s fabrics, my old bedsheets, embroidery floss, yarn, flax paper pulp, seaweed paper pulp, natural dyes, RIT dyes, red wine, and adhesive on canvas. 54"x 52" x 8"
Innards is a depiction of my deepest darkest secrets. The pattern you see is created by repeatedly writing these confessions over and over again with strands of my old bedsheets, fabrics leftover from my grandmother's quilting studio, and yarn. The tapestry is visceral. Created by the parts of me that I am ashamed to admit, drawn with remnants of materials from people and places that I do not want to disappoint. The repeated layers of materials begin to erase the shame that once was and transform it into something new. It is raw and complex, yet in all its grotesque qualities, represents an authentic portrait of myself that I am learning to be proud of.
Sonja Czekalski
Tiny Dancer Dress, 2020
handmade gampi paper fabric, steel wire, tulle, yarn, embroidery thread, adhesive, flax, abaca, and kozo paper pulp, black walnut dye, seaweed, red wine, and watercolor. 24"x 26"x 27"
I am an artist driven to tell women’s stories. The Tiny Dancer Dress stands as a garment exposing my experience of striving for perfection. The garment is made to my size, yet constructed with steel wire making it impossible to fit into. Tiny Dancer Dress is a symbolic story of a shared experience. She creates awareness about the brutality of feminine expectations and stereotypes while demanding respect for women’s work and power.
Sonja Czekalski
Beldam Cloak, 2021
My grandmothers fabrics, my old bed sheets, yarn, embroidery floss, flax paper pulp, natural dyes, RIT dye, red wine, seaweed, assorted plants,pennyroyal herbs, human hair, and adhesive on handmade gampi paper. 73" x 50" x 64"
Beldam Cloak is a portrait of my feminine ancestry. It is a garment, a painting, a tent, a time machine, a womb, and a hug from my grandmother. The cloak is constructed of fragments from her fabrics embedded into skin like paper, along with scraps of my old bedsheets. In doing so, I have stitched together a map of my maternal lineage. The cloak is colored with natural dyes, coated in layers of paper pulp, seaweed, and dried pampas grass. The natural materials connect my personal genealogy to the roots of our physical and spiritual descent from Mother Earth. The bodily materiality of the cloak represents the raw beauty of stretch marks, laugh lines, and the organs that grow, change, and nourish a new life in the sacrifice of one’s own. The raw and visceral cloak encompasses the complexity of motherhood, mother daughter relationships, and the representation of the intense changes a woman's bodies can survive.
