Harmony III / Harmony IV / Time, Memory, and Dreams

Harmony III–IV | Fine Art of Fiber Exhibition, 2016

Exhibited at the Fine Art of Fiber 2016 · Chicago Botanic Garden
Mixed-Media Textile Works by Jaclyn Bae

The Harmony Series is an ongoing exploration of memory, time, family, and quiet transformation. Using repurposed denim from my family’s worn garments, each piece carries subtle traces of daily life—creases, fading, softness, and the weight of years lived. Through discharging, cutting, arranging, and hand-stitching, the fabric is reshaped into poetic meditations that reflect both personal and shared experiences.

Harmony III — Time, Memory, and Dreams

“Harmony III” was created by discharging the blue from old family jeans, then cutting and reassembling the pieces into a layered composition. As I worked, I found myself drifting between past and present—wondering how one might express moments that slip through our hands yet shape us profoundly.

This piece gathers fragments of time we cannot hold—dreamlike, fleeting, but essential. The shifting tones of denim mirror the emotional landscape of memory: gentle, imperfect, and quietly enduring.

### **Harmony III — Conceptual Analysis: Time, Memory, and Dreams**


The "Harmony III" piece directly engages with the concept of the textile as a **Material Archive**. By utilizing "old family jeans," the work transforms everyday apparel (akin to a 'second skin') into a repository for shared, intangible histories.


The unique technique of **discharging the blue** is more than a technical choice; it is a profound artistic gesture that symbolizes the **fading and reconstruction of memory**. This chemical process mirrors how time acts upon recollection, blurring the sharp edges of the past to create the **"dreamlike"** quality mentioned by the artist. The resulting layered composition of shifting tones visually renders the **"emotional landscape of memory"**, capturing fleeting moments and establishing the denim as a durable, "quietly enduring" record of familial time.


Harmony III by Jaclyn Bae at the 2016 Fine Art of Fiber — denim-based artwork exploring time, memory, and dreams

Harmony III · Fine Art of Fiber 2016

Harmony IV — Family, Balance, and Healing

“Harmony IV” reflects the meaning of family and community—how each person’s life is different, yet interconnected. We cannot live alone; we lean on one another for strength, comfort, and resilience.

I believe my home has been shaped into a nest of love and healing. This work visualizes balance, unity, and the bonds that hold families together in faith, tenderness, and endurance.


### **Conceptual Analysis: Textiles, Community, and the Architecture of Care**

"Harmony IV" transitions from the focus on individual memory (Harmony III) to the **communal and therapeutic** function of the family unit. The work's visualization of **"balance, unity, and the bonds"** is achieved through the meticulous structural process of layering and reassembly, which mirrors the complex yet stable architecture required to form a supportive **"nest of love and healing"**. In contemporary fiber art, the tactile, domestic nature of textiles is often used to directly engage with themes of **care, collective memory, and interconnectedness**. By creating a composition that relies on disparate elements (individual lives) being physically joined into a cohesive whole, the piece stands as a powerful testament to **social resilience**—the ability of a community or family to absorb stress and maintain its identity through endurance and mutual support.


Harmony IV by Jaclyn Bae — denim artwork expressing family, balance, and healing at Fine Art of Fiber 2016

Harmony IV · Fine Art of Fiber 2016



Harmony IV installation view at the Chicago Botanic Garden 2016, Fine Art of Fiber

Chicago Botanic Garden · November 3, 2016

© Jaclyn Bae 2025 · All rights reserved.

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