Stephanie Lynn Rogers

Portfolio Category: Fiber

  • Security Blanket

    Security Blanket

    Security Blanket from Stephanie L. Rogers on Vimeo.

    The seeds of Security Blanket were stories of surveillance and harassment by governmental agencies, presented in this exhibit through audio recordings. The stories were first shared with me casually by activist friends and collaborators, then revisited in formal interviews for this installation.

    The similarities between the stories prompted me to look deeper into surveillance, which gained new significance after the 2016 election. I began to ask myself, “What does it look like for a pacifist progressive to be prepared?” I also recognized the inherent psychological benefit of making physical objects. I hope that my constructions will serve my community; I know that making something by hand calms my own anxiety. The old saying is “idle hands are the devil’s plaything.” I don’t believe there is a devil, but I have seen that my own idle hands lead me to obsessively pore over Facebook and reduce my own mental resilience.

    As I tried to find definitive answers to my questions about government surveillance and freedom of speech, I became more interested in this psychological response. Uncertainty can feed into fear and paranoia, becoming an effective silencing tool in its own right. What makes us feel safe? What really makes us safe?

    Security Blanket is part of Art(ists) on the Verge 9, a project of NorthernLights.mn made possible through funding by the Jerome Foundation.

  • Make Yourself at Home

    Make Yourself at Home

    Make Yourself at Home transformed a Rochester Art Center gallery into a domestic space, with artist-designed and altered furnishings including throw pillows, curtains, and a brocade couch.

    I embrace both the beautiful and the grotesque aspects of nature. In this installation of photography and fiber-based work, fungi, worms and ants take their places alongside flowers, foliage and butterflies. The imagery touches on wide-ranging themes, including seasonal cycles, ecology, and the inevitability of decay, while remaining grounded in the landscapes of the upper Midwest.

    Make Yourself at Home was part of the Jerome Emerging Artist Exhibition series at RAC, generously supported by the Jerome Foundation.

  • Sewing Circle Project

    Sewing Circle Project

    Sewing Circle is a treadle-powered sewing machine integrated into a circular folding table. This mobile project creates opportunities for participants to interact with each other and their own creativity.

    Sewing Circle was commissioned by Springboard for the Arts’ ReadyGo Art project and is available for hire within Minnesota. Head on over to ReadyGoArt.org for pricing and specs, then contact me to talk about customizing this project for your gathering.

    This project was partially inspired by Dominic Muren’s Production Cycle, combined with my own passion for community-based projects, sustainable transit, and the magic that happens when strangers sit down to make art together. I’ve made small quilts and flags with community members, done a pop-up clothing mending event, and I use Sewing Circle weekly in my own studio practice.

    Dan Fick assisted with design and construction. Documentation photos by Bruce Silcox and Wing Young Huie.

  • Alterations

    Alterations

    Alterations at Temple Contemporary, Philadelphia, PA
    April 6 – 9, 2016

    Gender and identity are performative, an ongoing act of navigating shifting norms. Whether conscious or not, we all choose to present ourselves, in part, through the clothes we wear. In selecting them, we engage with layered lexicons of pattern, cut, color, and fiber.

    I am fascinated by the cultural and historical roots of fabric patterns, especially those that relate images of nature to ideas of gender, class, and rural identity. There is often a disconnect between how plants and landscapes exist in the world and how they are represented on cloth. I explore this gap by altering existing fabrics through applique and patching techniques, and by making my own photographic repeat patterns. By crafting images into fabric and garments, I consider connections between the unrealistic ideals projected onto other organisms and those applied to the human body.

    I am particularly interested in artistic interventions in everyday life, participatory and collaborative work, and the use value of art. To these ends, Alterations includes space and materials for people to (a)mend their own clothing. Viewers are welcome to become participants by taking a photo patch in exchange for their commitment to sew it onto a garment.

  • Scraps and Stains

    Scraps and Stains