Spool lamp 5

The Clearing series draws across past and present, using materials from my own life, my parents and nature.

Something happens to us when we clear our parents’ house after they’ve gone. The responsibility of dismantling a life or lives, to be the person who says what stays and what goes, what is precious, what should be retained, loved and appreciated.

For this work I unravelled and used some of the precious pieces of fabric and paper, as well as objects, accumulated by my family and in my own life: damask and linen tablecloths, jewellery, service records, clothes I have made or worn through the decades, material collected and received.

Using dyeing, hand-painting, hand and custom-printing to create new textiles from these existing materials, I constructed a series of works using patchwork, quilting, appliqué and embroidery.

Throughout the process of making these pieces I found myself waking up keen to get back to them and a comfort I had experienced but had forgotten. They helped me slide into a place and feeling of belonging.