When I found the Goddess of 10,000 faces, I found the expansiveness to include my myriad experiences outside other's definitions of what a woman is. I found the room to "fit in", the inspiration and acceptance of the many facets of my being. I found the encouragement to pursue my decision to no longer make enemies of any parts of myself and honor both light and shadow. My art is about this all-encompassing and whole-istic journey to retrieve the discarded, lost and stolen aspects of my Self on the road to integration and beyond.

Inner workings led to my first fabric sculpture in this series 13 years ago. Writing my life story resulted in examination of my denial and repression of certain events. A diminutive figure imbued with the tale became the instrument of integration and healing. Ritual empowered this first small form and opened the way for other figures. As I became more open to the spontaneous eruption of emotion that punctuated this inner journey, more fabric sculptures followed allowing me to descend into the nether world, into the consciousness of disassembly and assembly. These sculptures became the manifestation of this process, the physical representation of the experience, of the journey.

Living as an artist, my instinct to create becomes a drive no longer suppressed. Often the urge to create begins a new figure even before the emotion or intent of the figure becomes known - starting (sometimes) as a set of chaotic feelings, with the frenetic energy revealing itself in the piece. These figures arise from a place deep within me, and many of my pieces evolve from specific, initially undefined experiences.

As an artist, I explore every aspect of life deeply, thoroughly and fearlessly. I am guided by my feelings, dreams, visions, archetypal imagery, and a desire to integrate fully and deeply. An appreciation and ongoing study of Tarot, symbology, and Jungian archetypes influences and inspires me. An abiding interest in religious and cultural iconography, myth and story quickens my imagination. My fascination with and attention to detail in life situations in embodied in the elaborate detail of my figures. I express untold grief and devastating losses and help to envision the possibility of renewal and unbridled joy through this art form. I stitch stories and embroider tales both autobiographical and mythic. Inside many pieces, intricately formed amulets are sewn which define the essence or soul of the sculpture and give it life. Sitting with figures in progress, for hours or days on end, sometimes results in the ecstatic experiences that happen even in the darker corridors of my mind. I explore the unknown and unknowable parts of myself and connect my life to the universal feminine experience.

The recognition and expression of emotion, especially passionate emotion, is often stifled in many of our lives. Dolls have proven for centuries to bevaluable tools for transformation and healing and each of my dolls is a healer and storyteller. They serve as vessels and doorways, mirrors and avenues. For almost 15 years, I've been sharing this gentle process with others in my workshops, where they find the spirit of this practice unfolding in their own creations. Hundreds of women, men and children have benefitted from the opportunity to participate in this artform.

I created, in 1999, a body of work for an exhibit based upon the thirteen cycles of the moon in a calendar year, the pagan symbolism attached to those rotations and how they relate to phases and cycles in my own life as a woman. Other thematic exhibits include those built around the five elements: earth, air, fire, water and spirit and how they are at work in the world today. I am also building, over time, a tarot deck through my figures.

"Lynn Dewart's textile figures convey a wealth of detailed, passionate emotions. With her costumer's sense of drama and her complex inner world of light and dark, deep textures and rich colors take shape: using fabric and decoration she creates both movement and meaning." Stefanie Freeman