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Rusty Mettle
“Humble beginnings: salvaged roofing tin, aged and weathered to perfection in the misty
mountains of my homestead in West Virginia. The metal is then scraped, sanded, and sealed. Holding the piece up to the light, illuminating the holes, indicates where I stitch with heavy button thread. The process of using light to determine my stitching feels almost sacred. Even now, I must close my eyes and put my hand over my heart, lest the feeling escape.
“After years (a lifetime, really) of working as a pattern- maker, designer, then fiber artist, I find myself work- ing in metal. I went from working with soft, luscious fabrics to appreciating the landscape of rusty metal. The discovery of my ‘signature madness’ (as I like to refer to my new artform) came about as a result of
my breast cancer diagnosis in July 2020. When I was first diagnosed, I knew no one that had breast can- cer—not in my family, extended family, my town, no one. I live a quiet, peaceful, soulful life, yet this level of solitude was new territory for me. Imagine waking up in a strange country and your only mode of trans- portation is a leap of faith. In God, the doctors, and hospitals, and yes, ultimately myself. I found a courage in myself I didn’t know existed. I believe the transition of working with fabric to metal is an outward repre- sentation of this newfound bravery. My ‘mettle’ is now expressed in metal.”
One in Seven
rusted tin, button thread 14'' x 18"
Julie G. CorCoran