Why Was the Sky Blue?

In Why Was the Sky Blue?, I embroider archival postcards of American landscapes to model a future in which the sky is white (or yellow or green). Regardless of how quickly we reduce future carbon emissions, the earth will keep warming due to the carbon released in the past. Mitigating the effects of already accumulated carbon will require geo-engineering of some sort. Launching reflective particles into the stratosphere to redirect sunlight back into space is a favored approach, and an undertaking that would change the color of the sky.

The antique postcards that are my fabric were manufactured to promote tourism and sent by travelers to reinforce connections with those left behind. With their idealized images of American landscapes on one side and poignant handwritten messages on the other, these postcards glorify a commodified landscape and reveal yearning for human connection. In stitching through the postcards, I connect the consumer and the correspondent, and I imagine the future we’ve all sewn.

The prospect of an altered sky prompts sadness and resolve, rage and remorse. The thought that there’s something to be done inspires determination. The possibility of unintended consequences associated with such large-scale interventions disturbs. The fact that it’s come to this disappoints. The prospect of a green sky alarms, yet somehow a lavender sky pleases me.

To process my ambivalence, I stitch. To touch my nostalgia and to call forth my resolve, I stitch. I stitch to acknowledge my longing for a past that is unrecoverable, and to cultivate commitment to sowing a habitable future. 

Postcards from this series are available for purchase in my Shop.