Boycode, 2003

embroidery floss on cotton, silk ties, men’s suits

The Boycode project, comprised of eleven embroideries, investigates the power of the doodles so many boys spontaneously produce, teach each other, and practice during early adolescence. As a mother of three boys, I became fascinated with the gruesome male figures most boys draw on the backs of anything handy. I reproduced the quality of the boy’s passionate mark making as faithfully as possible in stitches with the hope of coaxing out some of the complexities boys experience facing manhood. The thangka (Tibetan portable altar) format, constructed of cast-off clothing from men’s suits and ties, links the reverence I think the doodles deserve with a stereotypical symbol of male power in our culture.