HISTORY WILL ALWAYS FIND YOU AND WRAP YOU IN ITS THOUSAND ARMS

50 x 60 in

upcycled fiber from old clothing/interior design swatches/leather/vintage yardage, human hair, upcycled rhinestones, upcycled beads, vintage thread, blood

​by Pangea Kali Virga

2023

Exhibited at MOCA (2023), Green Space (2024-2025), Deering Estate (2025)

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History Will Always Find You And Wrap You In Its Thousand Arms reflects on the unseen power of history -- cultural, genetic, and material. The looming overarching nature of the past applies to things beyond the personal arc of one's own life, such as the long narrative of politics and colonization and war, the power of passed down cultural traditions, generational traumas, both within family structures and within populations, and so much more. Understanding and reflecting on the past, gives us the knowledge and cumulative strength to make change in the present and for the future. The work posits that history dictates the circumstances of the
present, and forms an unbroken chain with our future.

History Will Always Find You And Wrap You In Its Thousand Arms comprises the second part of a quilt triptych, encapsulating the artist’s personal and ancestral past as well as her thoughts on the concept of the past via memory, identity, and physics. By exploring identity through personal past, Pangea explores the power that ancestral stories, genetics, childhood, and existence through experience hold over every minute of our lives -- from the decisions we make, to the circumstances we are in, to the
society we are ensconced in. This heavily adorned quilt is lavishly embellished with portraits of Pangea’s matriarchs and patriarchs, flowers from their childhood, a birth chart, quotes from various books and poetry, a seraphim, ten swords, mangrove roots, two self-portraits, and other symbols of personal identity and time. The questions that birthed this piece relate to inquiries concerning whether one's family or personal past explicitly dictates your future, if fate exists, if one can move away from the past, how one can define the past, and thoughts on how the past can continuously be redefined. Each element of the quilt was meticulously hand-crafted from upcycled materials using a zero waste process and took over a year of labor. Materials were collected from community swaps, family heirlooms, and designer scraps, which highlight the power and usefulness of waste. Techniques used on the quilt
include embroidery, patchwork, beading, painting, quilting, typography, and collage. The quilt encompasses the artist’s past and delves into the unfathomable power that the past exerts over the present and future.

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