In Leslie Sampson’s exhibition entitled X. a combination of images and text, of conceptual and folk art, or art and craft, of a forgotten history and a contemporary social concern, of the personal and political – are employed in a series of cross stitch wall constructions. These works utilize the viewer’s recognition of the sampler format and the memory of traditional verses, the artist then overlays this with a social criticism of the sampler’s use in socialization along with an appreciation and celebration of the form. In this way the sampler form and history serve as the conceptual frame for the work. The histories and quotations that this body of work is based on, derives from women writing, traveling together or sharing the details of their lives through steady correspondence.
