FLESHMAP: MY EMBROIDERED BIPOLAR GEOGRAPHIES
BY BRIGHTWORK FELLOW JENNIFER MARKOWITZ

NOVEMBER 2 - DECEMBER 7, 2019

Jennifer Markowitz uses embroidery to inspect feelings of dislocation through the creation of psychogeographic maps. She began stitching in 2014 and quickly became fixated on the process of embroidering as a means of bringing quiet focus to disruptive personal experiences. After leaving an extensive career as a theater director Markowitz now pursues visual art as a full time practice and has found that her theatrical aesthetic easily transfers to this new medium. 

In the series Fleshmap: My Embroidered Bipolar Geographies Markowitz uses thread to circumnavigate her own bipolar disorder by mapping the geography of memory in all its disarray and confusion. Through relentless re-visits of intimate terrains, she has mapped a life frequently interrupted by mental illness. Each of the hand-embroidered panels excavates personal events beginning in 1985 and spanning several US cities as well as multiple international relocations. Within each panel are images and text pulled from memories, traumas, confusions, artifacts and maps. Her preoccupations with psychogeography, environment and the revealing of facets of self within a narrative have remained the main characteristics of her creative output. Fleshmap invites the viewer to travel through an unflinching navigation between memory and place.

A note to visitors with children: This exhibition directly addresses a variety of mature themes through imagery and text.