Night Quilt, damaged and torn handmade bed quilt embellished with wool embroidery thread. 2017.

Inspired by the seemingly chaotic webs of black widow spiders, this ‘night quilt’ is meant to be both protective and a warning. Black widows do not bite unless they are bothered. We are beginning to talk about epigenetics and the possible long-term effects of trauma. Thinking of what led the black widow’s ancestors to develop such defenses (poison and a web that warns others that this spider is not friendly), I began to think of how a quilt is protective and how many people have seen their beds as either a place to protect oneself or a place of danger (or both).