Short Changed

Hand embroidered paper art books with coptic stitch binding. Hand marbled paper, paper collage, perle cotton, monofilament and metallic thread.

Tryptich. 4x4x.75 inches each. 2026.

Short Changed is a set of three books, each with a gold coin embroidered on the covers. On the front cover, the coins are complete, but on the back they seem incomplete. The “blank” sections of each coin are stitched to complete the pattern but in fine, transparent monofilament, which becomes nearly invisible. Each cover is made from a different handmade paper in quiet, soft colors. The three books have a total of 202 blank pages.

Short Changed is about loss and the quiet work of living with it in your own time, even when the world seems to expect something different. Over the past year, I lost three family members. The number 202 marks the days between that first loss and the day I finished this piece.

The stitching is intentionally meant to look unfinished. It’s a response to the people who have implied, suggested, or even scolded that there is a right way—or a right timeline—for grief. It’s about the strange feeling that you can somehow be grieving “wrong” simply because your experience doesn’t match someone else’s expectations. The stitched paths are there, but they remain fragile and undefined.