Small gestures of tenderness and affection in the quiet moments of the day seldom announce themselves. How to pin them down, hold them still. A moment of time is never the same twice, while a childhood is seemingly able to slip through your fingers if you look away. I have enlarged a joyful moment, and made it a spectacle to hold your attention, to let you linger. And yet, even here life does not go as expected. A game without a winner, the thumbs will never touch, yet the hands are unable to part.

    I keep letting you win so that I can hold your hand is the most recent in a series of participant driven works that explore the alleviation of tension though physical movement with unanticipated yet pleasant outcomes. The meditative qualities produced by the repetitive motions of textile work benefit me as an artist, while the tactility of the medium invites the viewer’s hand to draw closer. The playfulness of this piece wrestles with our collective unease toward touching, sharing the heightened tension between desire and apprehension.