Writing my artist's statement

Our exhibition at Newark Park is quickly approaching and it is time to think about how my work will be presented and what my artist's statement will say about it.

The free machine embroidered 'Stuart Casket' is now complete and ready to be mounted on to a perspex box the same size as the original piece on display in the Tudor Room.

Drawn Stuart Casket, 2016

I have calculated that the front piece of this project has taken approximately 315 hours to complete. Throughout this process I have questioned the skill and determination of young people - those of the past who have left us these wonderful antiquities, my youth, where I too enjoyed the excitement of a new craft kit and todays youth, where many hours are spent online. 

I plan to display kits from my past, representations of projects that I have spent many hours working on, a time where I developed my passion for making.

French Knitting Doll

Matchstick Kit

String Drawing

And for todays generation, a cinemagraph will be shown in the gallery of Newark Park examining their play - and once again, with many hours are occupied.

Cinemagraph, 'Young hands'', 2016

the traces we leave behind

Textiles seldom survive over long periods of time and working with such a historical building as Newark Park the evidence of humans is in the bricks and mortar more than the fabrics. My work progresses on the gallery piece for Newark Park exhibition, pulling together ideas on the traces we leave. I’ve gathered lengths, some that were left in the garden for two to three months, these have been stained and partially destroyed but still link to the pieces in the garden and the kitchen. I wanted also to bring into the piece some of the ideas that sprang from the workshop that Carla held in October, where I worked with found objects from the garden at Newark Park and to use some blind stitching techniques I had played with where I found myself stitching around my thumb print.A strong connection to the ephemeral.

outside

Easter has been very productive with the completion of the 48 lengths for the outside piece for Newark Park

wrapped up in a bag it all looks so contained for 32 meters of seams, 13.3 meters of crotchet and 32,496 rows of machine knitting. Now I just have 22,192 rows of knitting for the kitchen piece.

And on a recent visit to Newark Park I took some of the lengths to trial them in situ, here's a short film of them.