Free Palestine :

This piece was a commission that I jumped at the chance to work on. To be honest, before October 7th, 2023 I was completely in the dark about the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Over the past year I have been reading, listening, and learning as much as I can to understand the on-going genocide. I have become irreversibly “radicalized” in my beliefs about colonialism and the United States role in the genocide of the Palestinian people, and many other oppressed populations.

Fruits of Our Labor isn’t just a art + lifestyle brand, but a brand rooted in social justice and advocacy for all oppressed peoples, with a strong focus on intersectional feminism. The Watermelon is a symbol of advocacy with the Palestinian people, with a strong opposition to Zionism. Below is an excellent excerpt from an article posted by PBS, going deeper into the history and symbolism of watermelons for Palestine.

“After the 1967 Mideast war, the Israeli government cracked down on displays of the Palestinian flag in Gaza and the West Bank. In Ramallah in 1980, the military shut down a gallery run by three artists because they showed political art and works in the colors of the Palestinian flag — red, green, black and white.

According to artist and exhibit organizer Sliman Mansour, an Israeli officer told him, “It is forbidden to organize an exhibition without permission from the military, and secondly, it is forbidden to paint in the colors of the Palestinian flag.” The officer mentioned a watermelon as one example of art that would violate the army’s rules.

In protest, people began to wave the fruit in public.

“There are stories of young men who defiantly walked the streets with slices of the fruit, risking arrest from Israeli soldiers,” Jerusalem-born author Mahdi Sabbagh wrote. “When I see a watermelon, I think of the unbreakable spirit of our people.”

Two years ago, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir banned Palestinian flags in public places. This effort was met with fervent opposition. In response, Zazim, an activist group of Arab and Jewish Israelis, plastered taxis in Tel Aviv with large watermelon stickers that read: “This is not a Palestinian flag.”

“Our message to the government is clear,” the organization said in a written statement. “We’ll always find a way to bypass any absurd ban and we won’t stop struggling for freedom of expression and democracy — whether this involves the Pride flag or the Palestinian flag.”

For some, embracing the colors of the flag is about striving for freedom and equality rather than necessarily statehood.

“I’ve never cared for flags or nationalism,” says Mayssoun Sukarieh, an expert in Middle Eastern studies at King’s College London. “But when it comes to Palestine, it’s a flag of a colonized people who never saw independence. And because it has been banned, it becomes more of a symbol of resistance than it is of nationalism.”

Another reason the watermelon might resonate: It has seeds. There is a saying, often attributed to the Greek poet Dinos Christianopoulos, that is popular among activists: “They wanted to bury us; they didn’t know we were seeds.”

“You might be able to smash a watermelon. You might be able to destroy a fruit, but the seed is a little harder to crush,” says Shawn Escarciga, an artist who created the coalition’s design. “It’s really powerful that life can come out of something so small and something so resilient — and that it can be spread so, so easily.”

“We’re seeing Palestinian flags being banned, even the emoji online being flagged — and, you know, the word ‘Palestine’ being censored online,” Escarciga said. “But having this image that transcends language, that transcends culture, that transcends algorithms — can really reach people.” “

Furman, A. (2024, January 17). How watermelon imagery, a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians, spread around the world. Associated Press. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/how-watermelon-imagery-a-symbol-of-solidarity-with-palestinians-spread-around-the-world

After a 5 year hiatus, I turned to the familiarity of painting fruit in my personal style heavily influenced by Georgia O’Keeffe. After not painting consistently for years, this piece went through many iterations as I struggled to settle on a style. I was bothered by the excess negative space behind the Blackberry and filled the void by nodding to my botanical illustration background. I made the choice to include images of the blackberry flower in its growth stages before it became a fruit. This concept mirrors the stages of birth which compliments the central theme of divine femininity in my paintings.

This piece has quickly become an instant favorite and is currently unbeaded unlike its sister paintings.

The way the morning light hits the sequins on this piece is magic. Very ornate beading will be continued all over the painting.

This piece took 5 years from start to finish and patiently watched me adapt to new surroundings, styles, and points of view. This piece was never replicated into prints and is a custom one of a kind commission piece.

The "Blood Orange" is the original brainchild of my thesis, "Fruits of Our Labor". The original painting was sketched out and started in the spring of 2016. Two years later I decided to re-approach the piece and to surround my thesis concept around it. 

This piece is one of three large scale paintings that are the focal points  of my “Fruits of Our Labor” collection. They are the first step in my process of creating repeated abstract prints as well as jacquard wovens. By taking up close detail photographs, I can capture the immense detail and texture that goes into making these mixed media paintings. The repeated prints act as an allusion of female anatomy, challenging the viewer to think outside of the box when identifying what they are looking at. 

The second of a three part collection, the strawberry has the most obvious imagery resembling female genitalia. The use of mark making and color forces the viewers eye around the entire piece. 

The third of the three piece collection is the most abstracted painting. The Blood Orange and Strawberry paintings were mimicked after real fruit and carefully sketched out. Peaches were out of season so I worked from memory and really let loose with the brush and with my imagination.

Textile Collaboration with Fashion Designer Kelsey Fickes for senior collection. Print design inspired by our combined thesis concept "Fruits of Our Labor". This print is accompanied by hand woven denim manipulation to create one of four looks for our fashion collection. 

Textile Collaboration with Fashion Designer Vivan Cooper for senior collection. Print design inspired by Liberty of London and fungal habitats. Dye sublimation print on polyester poplin. 

Textile Collaboration with Fashion Designer Michaela O'Connor for senior collection. Print design inspired by traditional tattoo art and classic varsity sport designs. Yardage printed through dye sublimation on polyester satin. Individual motifs printed for patches. 

This collection was created as a collage of floral and nude studies from a sketchbook I kept during my first year of college. I followed the traditional print style of toile de joie to create a modern wallpaper collection. 

Textile Collaboration with Fashion Designer Patricia Franklin for senior collection. Engineered Print design inspired by the female form and topographical maps. Dye sublimation print on 2-way stretch polyester knit. 

Hand painted print designs inspired by traditional Western American lace patterns, paired with hand woven collection based on winter hiking. Hand wovens include single cloth undulating twills, reversible double cloth, and quilted matelassé structures. 

My first jacquard collection, based on the beautiful diaries kept by Anaïs Nin, and her love affair with Henry Miller.

My collaboration partner created an incredible fashion collection “Beauty in Decay” and I was lucky enough to work with her in creating a jacquard woven fabric for a wrap coat. Her collection was chosen to walk on the runway at a New York Fashion Week S/S 2018 Show, and she graciously brought me with her! Watching one of my fabrics go down a runway was definitely a high point.