on infinite projects

Lately I’ve been thinking about why I keep doing infinite projects, by which I mean:

-something I chip at away for years

-usually crafty/something I’m making with my hands

-can be put away for long stretches and returned to

-personal work, ie. not made for any real reason expect the pleasure of it

The main one lately has been my embroidered cowboy shirt, which I started about three years ago (I think?). It’s the shirt of my dreams, inspired my childhood wish to be a cowboy, and part of a larger series of garments I’m making for this dream life of roaming around “the range” and drinking black coffee from a tin cup by a campfire.

I juuuust finished embroidering the yoke, with fawns, horses, rabbits, pansies, poppies, stars, moons etc. And now…I think I’m going to do the sleeves?? I don’t WANT it to be done.

Another infinite project is my plan to reupholster an entire armchair with quilt blocks. I got this pink floral wingback armchair in my early 20s at a thrift store and it has moved all around with me. Since I started fostering cats, it has got progressively more destroyed by various gymnastic and climbing feats, but I can’t let it go. Sooo I’m slowly patching over the damage with quilt blocks, one at a time. Can you imagine how amazing it will look if I ever cover the whole thing?? I keep the quilt blocks and sewing supplies in a little dish nearby, so I can pick it up anytime.

I’ve been reflecting on the value these infinite projects bring to my practice:

-They are a way to keep scratching the itch to be creative between larger projects, while resting, while on the move, while uncertain about what else to do.

-I love the aesthetic of inefficiency: super labour intensive artworks where you can SEE the artist’s insane time investment and devotion. It’s not always possible to bring that aesthetic to projects with outside pressures or a shorter timeline, but I can do it here. (I actually think that the aesthetic of inefficiency can save an entire piece. Sometimes I see work and realize the only reason I love it is because of this quality).

-These projects are a way to ease into a theme or topic, keeping it gently in the mix before starting a more direct exploration. ie: I’ve been sniffing around this childhood dream / cowboy life theme for years, calling those dreams into the present, reflecting on the gap between what we tell children is possible and what is actually possible, reading funny Wikihow answers:

making related artwork:

I’m getting closer to starting a larger project about these themes, but not quite yet. Slowly stitching my cowboy shirt is easing me in that direction.

-There’s no obligation to work on them. They are spacious and full of breathing room, which counterbalances the many (even enjoyable and creative) things I “have” to do.

-Infinite projects give my practice a sense of sloooow forward momentum, on the scale of a geological epoch or something, with not much instant gratification, but a more process oriented satisfaction.

Okay, I’m off to start the sleeves of the shirt! Thinking: an ace up one sleeve, and a pierced heart worn on the other (as I do)?

THANKS FOR READING THIS