(k)not work

(k)not work is an ongoing series combining hand embroidery with antique found black and white postcards.

Commissions are currently open. Email ericamena at gmail.com.

More about the series below, and here: Tying Knots: A Language of Anxiety.

  • RED MOON RISING.
    €300
  • BLOOMING I.
    €300
  • DREAMCLOUDS I.
    €300
  • BLOOMING II.
    €200
  • BLOOMING III.
    €200
  • DREAMCLOUDS II.
    €300

WISH YOU WERE HERE.

Hand embroidery on found antique (1890s – 1940s) postcards of Fiskars, Finland
for the TAALLA / HAR / HERE 25th Anniversary Onoma Summer Show, Fiskars, Finland, 2021.

Available for purchase, email ericamena at gmail.com to inquire.

  • IT’S ALWAYS SUNSET IN THIS PLACE. SOLD.
  • IT’S ALWAYS SUNSET IN THIS PLACE. SOLD.
  • DREAMCLOUDS IV.
    €185
  • DREAMCLOUDS IV.
    €185
  • DREAMCLOUDS V.
    €240
  • DREAMCLOUDS V.
    €240
  • DREAMCLOUDS VI.
    €220
  • DREAMCLOUDS VI.
    €220
  • I AM HERE AND YOU ARE WHERE YOU ARE. SOLD.
  • I AM HERE AND YOU ARE WHERE YOU ARE. SOLD.

Available for purchase, email ericamena at gmail.com to inquire.

  • ALL THINGS MOVE TOWARD THEIR END I. SOLD.
  • ALL THINGS MOVE TOWARD THEIR END I BACK. SOLD.
  • ALL THE DARK THEY CARRY.
    SOLD.
  • ALL THE DARK THEY CARRY BACK. SOLD.
  • ALL THINGS MOVE TOWARD THEIR END II. SOLD.
  • ALL THINGS MOVE TOWARD THEIR END II BACK. SOLD.
  • BETWEEN YOU AND THE SKY. SOLD.
  • BETWEEN YOU AND THE SKY BACK. SOLD.
  • SHELTERING THINGS THAT ARE WILD. €200.
  • SHELTERING THINGS THAT ARE WILD BACK. €200.
  • THE ANGLE OF ETERNITY. SOLD.
  • THE ANGLE OF ETERNITY BACK. SOLD.
  • WILDER THAN MOONLIGHT. SOLD.
  • WILDER THAN MOONLIGHT BACK. SOLD.

LEFT MY HEART.

Hand embroidery on found, unsent antique (1920s) postcards of San Francisco.

Available for purchase, email ericamena at gmail.com to inquire.

ABOUT (k)not work

Postcards are a connection between here and there, between where we have been, where we are going, and where we stay. Send a postcard to yourself, to someone you love, to someone you’ve never met, to your favorite tree. Mark the moments of being here, and of going somewhere else. “Wish you were here.” But where you are is always here.

(k)not work began while I was hospitalized for mental health (anxiety, and un/mis-diagnosed Autism) around the onset of what became a chronic disabling illness (ME/CFS), and the subsequent major life changes becoming disabled created. These knots became the expression of my anxiety at not being able to practice my usual art forms because of changes in my brain and body. Each knot represents one full breath, one anxious moment.

Engaging in the traditionally feminine (unvalued) medium of embroidery, (k)not work also approaches the importance of social connections with family, friends, and community, and the role femme people have been traditionally allocated as the manager of those ties, and the isolation of being disabled. These threads make visible the desire for connection in invisible illness, and the invisible labor of caretaking and social connection, on material relics of the past. 

More about the series here: Tying Knots: A Language of Anxiety.

SHOWS / EXHIBITIONS

HACE FALTA / PUUTUVA / MISSING. Onoma Gallery, Fiskars, Finland, October 2020.

MUSTA. Kupru Gallery, Fiskars, Finland, May 2021.

TÄÄLLÄ / HÄR / HERE. Onoma 25th Anniversary Exhibition. Fiskars, Finland, June – September 2021.