"[DuBois] creates both surface illusions of depth and true depth of content.  Profound spirituality is embodied in hand-shaped materials that are patently physical….A marvelous, strangely moving and resonant recent work by Emily DuBois, Ancestor, 1998 epitomizes and fulfills all these criteria.  Superimposing a new, ‘pixelated’ image by rewoven materialization…upon what appears to be a fragment of ancient tapa cloth, she conjures up video screens, sound waves, and ancient ancestor bundles. Tying distant centuries and cultures together and combining chance and control in this way, she achieves her goal of ‘trying to access something powerful but unseen.”

— April Kingsley, Surface Design, Fall 1998.


Ancestor 1, 1998, 24”h x 21”w, tapa, discharge dyed, supplementary brocade weft.