I Wish This Were a Nightmare

2022

This work juxtaposes the seductive allure and softness of polyester sleepwear with mounting textile waste, ecological damage, and exploitation of workers. These low-quality, synthetic textiles require petroleum to produce and are tied to the insatiable consumerism of our time. Composed of many pajamas joined together, this ghostly work hints at the dystopian possibility of interconnected sleep and shared nightmares.

There's an irony there, that people think about putting pajamas on to help them have a good sleep, to stay warm at night, just to be comfortable, while in fact, these pajamas should be making us very uncomfortable. This was a commission by the Minnesota Museum of Art for an exhibition titled Imperfect Slumbers in 2023.