Textiles Project themed 'Hidden Heritage'

Artist Statement in Exhibition:

 

The project ‘Hidden Heritage’ exposed me to so much of my family history and it led me to producing a final piece inspired by my grandmother’s childhood. She was one of four children and when her mother died when she was 11, she took on the mother’s role. This is where my theme diverted and I became more focused on themes of home and family, love and bereavement and the capturing of memories. The use of kettles represents home and the idea that a ‘proper cup of tea can fix anything’, something my grandmother always says. The textiles, which cover the kettles, are completely hand-made as I wanted to focus on using traditional techniques that my grandmother would have used for example the panels are stitched together by an old English technique called ‘faggoting’ and I hand-dyed the mohair thread a deep mauve. My grandmother is a reserved person and rarely discusses her past, however through this project she opened up and I hope, found some sort of closure regarding her mother’s death. I also hope that through helping me understand her childhood through this project, she also was able to retrospectively revisit and remember parts of her life, both happy and sad, that may have previously escaped her.

Done