Slow Lines surveys two projects highlighting linear fragments, resourcefulness, and continuation. “Zig Zag in Twenty-Nine Parts,” developed in 2019, reveals complexities in materials and form, beginnings and endings, and color harmonies. The series follows a line’s lifetime of breakages, reconnections, extensions, and changes in identity. Work created after 2019, however, progresses into fully visualized images encompassed within the paper. They continue the dialogue that the prior series initiated, now conveyed as circular hoops.

All works utilize porcupine quills sourced from the North American Porcupine. Dion Fletcher colors her material with synthetic and natural dyes and sews them into her base. The process is tedious and time-consuming, hence Slow Lines. Production (sourcing, curing, dyeing, and stitching the quills) requires patience; as the artist proves, quality comes with time.

Before the 20th century, decorative quillwork was done primarily by women allowing them to have ownership over their designs. This sacred and often tedious art form was unique to North America. Plants were used to create vibrant shades of red, vivid blues, and elusive greens.

Communities from southern Canada to northern Texas created pieces to honor warriors and tribal leaders, decorate spiritual leaders, and hone in on animal power.

As told by Picking Bones Woman to George Bird Grinnell, Cheyenne's oral history says quilling came to their tribe from a man who married a woman who hid her true identity as a buffalo. His son was also a buffalo. The man visited his wife and son in their buffalo home, and while among the buffalo, the man learned the art of quilling, which he shared with the women of his tribe.

With the introduction of beads by European settlers, the art form deteriorated and nearly became lost. Thankfully, some artists have revived the dying art.