THE FABRIC OF OUR LIVES:
PRECIOUS LOVELL’S
THE TIES THAT BIND & EX-DOMESTICATION
JANUARY 26, 2024 - APRIL 14, 2024
THE TIES THAT BIND
The Ties That Bind is a collection of 15 aprons that continue my exploration of the narrative potential of cloth and clothing. This collection explores the lives of women through their cloth making practices.
The primary subjects of this collection are the women of my heritage, my maternal and paternal female ancestors and women of the African Diaspora. Historically, women have utilized cloth and clothing as a means to hold onto their identities and culture. Many African American improvisational patchwork quilting techniques have strong visual and technical connections to Africa through color, pattern and motif. These elements were often translated into patchwork because enslaved women generally had access to scraps of material left over from dress making and other fabric-based production.
The African modesty apron serves as the clothing artifact for this collection. Its function is to maintain the dignity of its wearer. Modesty aprons take many shapes and forms and are made from a variety of materials, including fabric, metal, animal skins, plant fiber or simply a bunch of leaves. They are woven, braided, cast in metal, and intricately beaded. The waist strings on most modesty aprons are indistinct with the focus remaining on the apron itself. With The Ties That Bind I have used the apron strings to continue the narrative by embroidering them with a code that connects each person to me. The African artifacts served as inspiration for the forms and making processes of these objects.
Through The Ties That Bind, I endeavored to conceptually project dignity, and honor the memories and perseverance of my female ancestors while celebrating the work of their hands and hearts.
-Precious Lovell
1- Precious Denita Lovell: b. Jan 30, 1959
This apron represents me, Precious Denita Lovell. Cloth is my passion and indigo is my favorite dye so I used denim and indigo dyed Korean ramie to construct my apron. The embroidered motif is the Adinkra symbol Ananse Ntontan, a spider’s web, and it is the symbol of wisdom, creativity and the complexities of life. There is an African folktale about Ananse, a spider who inspired two Ghanaian men to weave resulting in the African cloth known as Kente.
Materials: Recycled denim jeans, Korean indigo dyed ramie, cotton muslin, chief value cotton batting, cotton embroidery floss, cotton thread, polyester thread
Techniques: Machine sewn improvisational patchwork, running stitch, backstitch embroidery, Nubi quilting stitches, bat knot
Size: 13” x 16” excluding 47” apron strings | Year: 2014
2- Rachel Mildred Arnold Lovell: b. Oct 26, 1925 d. Feb 16, 1984
This apron represents my mother, Rachel Mildred Arnold Lovell. It is based on the Maple Leaf quilt block, which is one of the early quilt blocks know as the nine patch. My mother had begun making a maple leaf quilt when she passed away. Her sister finished the quilt and gave it to me for Christmas, some years later.
Materials: Cotton, ramie, chief value cotton batting, cotton muslin, cotton embroidery floss, cotton thread, polyester thread
Techniques: Hand sewn patchwork, running stitch, backstitch embroidery, whipped stitch, Nubi quilting stitches, bat knot
Size: 13.25” x 40” excluding 47” apron strings | Year: 2014
3- Mary Elizabeth Arnold Hines: b. Jul 7, 1922 d. Sep 9, 2013
This apron represents my mother’s sister, Mary Elizabeth Arnold Hines. The yellow rose was one of my Aunt Elizabeth’s favorite flowers. She passed away in September 2013 at the age of 92. She was the last of her generation. The yellow rose represents her. The other roses represent her twin daughters, my mother and myself. The ground color of the apron recalls the red dirt I loved to play in as a child, on her farm in Virginia.
Materials: Jeju Island persimmon dyed cotton, Jeju Island persimmon dyed cotton gauze, hand dyed cotton, cotton muslin, chief value cotton batting, cotton embroidery floss, cotton thread, polyester thread
Techniques: Machine sewn 3D and flat, traditional and improvisational patchwork, running stitch, backstitch embroidery, bat knot
Size: 14.5” x 12.5” excluding 47” apron strings | Year: 2014
4- Linner Johnson Arnold: b. Unknown d. Abt. 1929/30
This apron represents my mother’s mother, Linner Johnson Arnold. She passed away when my mother was four years old. The story I remember about my maternal grandmother was that when my grandfather first laid eyes on her, he said that he was going to marry that woman with the angel grass on her head. He was referring to her long black straight hair. I embroidered this apron with another Adinkra symbol named Duafe; it is a comb and a symbol of beauty, cleanliness and desirable feminine qualities.
Materials: Cotton canvas, cotton broadcloth, cotton muslin, chief value cotton batting, nylon twine, cotton embroidery floss, polyester thread
Techniques: Machine sewn mock Nubi quilting, chain stitch embroidery, backstitch embroidery, braiding, bat knot
Size: 11.75” x 45” excluding 47” apron strings | Year: 2014
5- Mary Elizabeth Johnson Tatum: b. Sep 30, 1891/92 d. Sep 1, 1976
This apron represents my mother’s aunt, Mary Elizabeth Johnson Tatum. She raised my mother. My great-aunt Lizzie lived with us. She was a domestic worker for two white families, the Hiatt’s and the Gordon’s, in the town where we lived. I remember her getting dressed in the morning and tying on a starched white apron before she left for work. This patched and bloodstained apron represents the blood, sweat and tears of the lives of many African American women working in service.
Materials: Cotton, Korean silk, linen, Korean hemp, cotton muslin, cotton twill tape, cotton thread, cotton embroidery floss
Techniques: Hand sewn Korean Jogakbo, running stitch, backstitch embroidery, bat knot
Size: 18” x 29.5” excluding 47” apron strings | Year: 2014
6- Perlina Arnold: b. Abt. 1859 d. Oct 17, 1876
This apron represents my mother’s paternal grandmother, Perlina Arnold. She died at 17 years of age, shortly before her only child, my grandfather was a year old. Childbirth was all I ever heard or associated with Perlina. She died at 17 from complications of giving birth to my maternal grandfather. Grandpa Arnold was the indisputable patriarch of our family and lived to be 101 years old. His father was the son-in-law of the slaveholder who owned Perlina.
Materials: Hand dyed cotton, cotton muslin, chief value cotton batting, cotton thread, cotton embroidery floss
Techniques: Hand sewn patchwork, Nubi quilting stitches, running stitch, backstitch embroidery, bat knot
Size: 14.5” x 13.5” excluding 47” apron strings | Year: 2014
7- Dolly Arnold: b. Abt. 1825 d. Unknown
This apron represents my mother’s paternal great-grandmother Dolly Arnold. Granny Dolly and Grandpa Tom were enslaved Africans in Patrick County Virginia. They raised my grandfather after his mother died. I never heard Granny Dolly’s name mentioned without Grandpa Tom’s. It was as if they were two sides of the same coin. This pink and blue ticking striped apron represents the marriage bed, although perhaps rough and uncomfortable, shared by this enslaved couple.
Materials: Cotton ticking, cotton chambray, Korean hemp, cotton muslin, chief value cotton batting, cotton embroidery floss, cotton thread, polyester thread
Techniques: Machine sewn 3D and flat, traditional patchwork, tufting, running stitch, Nubi quilting stitches, backstitch embroidery, bat knot
Size: 12.5” x 17.5” excluding 47” apron strings | Year: 2014
8- Zula Mae Joyce Lovell: b. Jun 12, 1901 d. Oct 7, 1986
This apron represents my father’s mother Zula Mae Joyce Lovell. Paul Lawrence Dunbar was my paternal grandmother’s favorite poet. She loved to recite his work. She often performed his poem A Negro Love Song during family gatherings and programs at the community church. I wrote the poem stitched here in honor of her performances.
Materials: Cotton canvas, cotton chambray, cotton muslin, cotton embroidery floss, cotton thread, polyester thread
Techniques: Machine sewn improvisational patchwork, running stitch, backstitch embroidery, bat knot
Size: 11” x 16.75” excluding 47” apron strings | Year: 2014
9- Sophia Jane Joyce East: b. Jan 25, 1906 d. May 4, 1996
This apron represents my father’s aunt Sophia Jane Joyce East. Known as Reverend East to most, I remember my Grandma Zula’s sister as Aunt Sophie. When we had the annual birthday dinner at church she and I were always the only people sitting at the January table. Aunt Sophie was licensed to preach in 1958 and was ordained an elder in the North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Church in 1964. The central motif in the large cross is a Kongo Cosmogram representing the four moments of the sun or birth, life, death and rebirth.
Materials: Jeju Island Persimmon dyed cotton, Korean hemp, cotton muslin, chief value cotton batting, cotton embroidery floss, cotton thread, polyester thread
Techniques: Hand sewn patchwork, whipped stitch, backstitch embroidery, bat knot
Size: 11.5” x 16.25” excluding 47” apron strings | Year: 2014
10- Elizabeth Kellam Joyce: b. May 25, 1869 d. Jun 19, 1963
This apron represents my father’s paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Kellam Joyce. Granny Lizzie ruled the roost! She passed away when I was 4 years old but I clearly remember her sitting in a wheelchair in a corner of my paternal grandmother’s house. She had a cane that was topped with the head of an elephant, that on occasion, she would use to discipline anyone who got out of order.
Materials: Korean ramie, Korean hemp, cotton chambray, cotton muslin, cotton embroidery floss, polyester thread
Techniques: Hand sewn patchwork, whip stitch, running stitch, backstitch embroidery, bat knot
Size: 14.25” x 15.5” excluding 47” apron strings | Year: 2014
11- America (Maggie) Martin Lovell: b. Oct 20, 1881 d. Jan 20, 1969
This apron represents my father’s paternal grandmother, America Martin Lovell, also known as Miss Maggie or Granny Mag. We were very close and I used to sit on the floor and work the peddle of her machine when she sewed. I remember a crazy quilt pillow she made that we had at home. It had a black ground and I always referred to it as my pillow. She lived next door to us and I went to her house every day after school. My uncle Jim, Daddy’s brother, was the “griot” or historian, in the West African oral tradition, of the family. During a conversation he asked me if I knew Granny Mag’s real name? I said no, and he then told me that it was America!
Materials: Cambodian silk, Korean quilted broadcloth, cotton broadcloth, cotton muslin, Korean silk thread, polyester thread
Techniques: Hand sewn crazy quilt patchwork, herringbone stitch, blanket stitch, closed blanket stitch, featherstitch, lazy daisy stitch, running stitch, backstitch embroidery, bat knot
Size: 14.5” x 12.75” excluding 47” apron strings | Year: 2014
12- Lightfoot Pace Lovell: b. Apr 2, 1855 d. Feb 14, 1902
This apron represents my father’s paternal great-grandmother, Lightfoot Pace Lovell. I remember only that she was great-grandpa Floyd’s mother and that she was Cherokee. The footprint on this apron is mine and I used it simply to represent a single step or pace as a reflection of her name and as a connection to the earth, superimposed over the four directions, earth, air, fire and water.
Materials: Korean ramie, Korean hemp, chief value cotton batting, cotton muslin, cotton cording, cotton embroidery floss, polyester thread
Techniques: Hand sewn patchwork, hand sewn Korean Nubi quilting, stamping, running stitch, backstitch embroidery, bat knot
Size: 14” x 17” excluding 47” apron strings | Year: 2014
13- Known and Unknown African American Female Ancestors:
This apron represents my known and unknown African American female ancestors. They are reflected in the diamond shapes as symbols for the cycle of life, birth, life, death, and rebirth. The middle passage ripped lives apart and turned them inside out. Over time African Americans have continued to reorder and put their lives back together again.
Materials: Cotton denim, cotton broadcloth, cotton chambray, cotton muslin, cotton embroidery floss, cotton thread, polyester thread
Techniques: Machine sewn patchwork, hand made tassels, backstitch embroidery, bat knot.
Size: 19” x 11.5” excluding 47” apron strings | Year: 2014
14- Unknown African Female Ancestors:
This apron represents my unknown African female ancestors. They are represented by a colorful, traditionally inspired patchwork apron that was inspired by a variety of African textiles including quilted patchwork horse armor, Egungun costumes, kente cloth and kuba cloth. It is embroidered with an Adinkra symbol called Sankofa. This symbol’s meaning suggests the importance of understanding and learning from the past.
Materials: Korean silk, cotton canvas, cotton chambray, chief value cotton batting, cotton muslin, cotton embroidery floss, cotton thread, polyester thread
Techniques: Machine sewn patchwork, hand made tassels, chain stitch embroidery, backstitch embroidery, bat knot
Size: 13” x 16” excluding 47” apron strings | Year: 2014
15- Sister-Friends:
This apron represents my sister-friends. A group of sassy colorful women who are both family and friends, they have supported me through thick and thin both long and short term. This apron is inspired by string quilts, which were made with scraps of fabric too small to otherwise be of use. Each color in the strings represents a sister-friend. This is the only fluctuating apron in the collection reflecting the ebb and flow of relationships.
Materials: Korean silk, glass seed beads, cotton muslin, cotton embroidery floss, cotton thread, polyester thread
Techniques: Hand sewn tubes, running stitch, twisted faggoting embroidery, whipped stitch, backstitch embroidery, bat knot
Size: 7.5” x 15.75” excluding 47” apron strings | Year: 2014
EX-DOMESTICATION
Ex-Domestication is conceptually grounded around the “domestication” of Africans by Europeans during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and how this mindset continues to impact contemporary culture. Included in this collection are both two dimensional as well as sculptural pieces that draw on various themes of domestication through materials, techniques and form. This project is created using techniques referred to as “domestic arts” that have traditionally been labelled as “women’s work” and are generally associated with maintaining a home and family. Some of these techniques, including but not limited to, are stitching, braiding, knotting, weaving, patternmaking, dressmaking, embroidery and crochet, as well as activities including washing, cooking and cleaning.
"Ex-Domestication is a love letter to my ancestors and all African descended peoples who endured the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. It is a love letter to the living, breathing people of African descent who exist because of those who endured, so we never forget whose shoulders we stand on. It is a love letter to my ancestral mothers and aunts who passed down these making skills and gave me the voice to use them in unconventional ways to convey what is often unspoken in a world that chooses to live in denial.
Ultimately, my goal with this body of work, like all of my work, is to uplift and honor people of African descent."
-Precious Lovell