ENOUGH Considered Samplers

These stitched samplers bearing the word ENOUGH are based on traditional Victorian alphabet samplers, created by girls as a means of simultaneously learning the material skills of stitching and the non-material skills of language, religious devotion, and femininity. Young women who had the privilege of learning to read and write in English were taught with thread on cloth, while ink and paper were reserved for boys.

My samplers seek to contextualize the concept of ENOUGH within this codified history of language, learning and power. Where can one find methods of self-expression within a system of control and indoctrination? Within the tedious efforts of cross-stitch, a cryptic system of “speaking” emerges. ENOUGH is found buried within the alphabet of the sampler or fading into the dark linen background. The word appears both deliberate and quiet as a visual whisper.

In samplers, photographic portraits and other collaborative actions, ENOUGH can become embodied and encrypted, benign or rebellious, leaving open-ended questions about what is spoken and what is hidden in plain sight.