Many and Beautiful Things

Abstract

This embroidery piece is an exploration of themes of queer identity, gender, and the experience of connecting to people from the distant past. It features text by the ancient Greek poet Sappho. Like many of her works, it survives in fragments, and the entire poem is incomplete. After embroidering the text, I "filled out" every gap with violets, which are a historical symbol of lesbian love. Much of Sappho's poetry describes feelings of affection for women, making her an extremely important and resonant figure for queer women across history, myself included.