The Mothers; Las Madres Series

Teresa Romero and Jean James demonstrate bordado embroidery on a torso fragment made from blue denim rag.

"The Mothers; Las Madres" Limited Edition sculpture series - a volunteer collaboration with inter-generational Latin American & North American craftswomen - honors the Family; both in the U. S. & in Latin America. We transform broken down clothing - cotton shirts, denim and burlap - left behind by migrants crossing the desert into sculptural pulp and blend it with Sonoran Desert plants. Inspired by found bordado embroidery cloths and tejido de gancho crochet, some are sewn; others are woven with found objects and then sealed with encaustic plant based resin and beeswax.

Preparing a found red cotton shirt to transform into sculptural pulp.

Pulling 'Hands over Heart' fragment out of mold.

Each Madre is a one of a kind fragment with torn and deckled edging and range from asymmetrical full torsos to the smaller 'hands over heart' fragment. They are unique in texture and color depending on the materials used.

We are led in large part by the innate intelligence of nature especially the inventive behavior of desert cactus wrens. They build their nest with dry grasses, scraps of cloth, and a variety of discarded printed materials including yellowed newspapers in both English and Spanish, torn maps and airline tickets. In some of The Mothers; Las Madres series, we embed similar found materials into the cloth.

In process. Here, crochet created by the artist's
family, generations past, is embedded and sewn into the
form. Note the gallon water jug found in the desert tied
with a bordado cloth edged with tejido de gancho.

Check back with us to view the the completed "Las Madres Series" in 2007-2008.