In 1635 the shoemaker Henry Tibbetts left Great Britain for the U.S and every generation since Henry landed, right up to my father, has been involved in the making of shoes. This got me to thinking about shoes and what a rich source they could be for artistic exploration. Shoes are functional and expressive and they are with us pretty much every step of the way through our lives. As a bipedal species, we move through our lives perpetually on our feet and it is our feet that connect us to the earth. Essentially our life’s journey is spent on foot.
There are so many ways to think about shoes and what they envelope: the stories- real or imagined - which encompass human history, anatomy, cultural particularities, and of course, our own personal history.
There are so many ways to think about shoes and what they envelope: the stories- real or imagined - which encompass human history, anatomy, cultural particularities, and of course, our own personal history.