Following the Threads Details

Following the Threads

2023

cotton sheets, cotton thread, acrylic paint

Following the Threads weaves together my maternal family history, knowledge, personal feelings of disconnect and longing to connect. It takes into consideration the life altering effects of disconnection to family, place and self which can form within a person.

Prominent within my work is the questioning of place and how that can relate to the location of birth, self and family. I represent this idea through the river patterns significant to the places my mother and grandmother were born, which I embedded into the grid of the street where I was born.

The sistering visual component to this piece is the bare figure, stripped from anything which could connect her to family, place, or even self.

This idea of being stripped from the personal items of family is significant for me, as my connection to family is not rich or well understood, so these items feel like the only connection I have to certain aspects of my lineage; photos, household items, and most specifically clothing/ fabrics.

Clothing/ fabric/textiles plays a significant role on the maternal side of my family. Both my mother and grandmother were dressmakers, I believe this is were my connection for textiles steams from.

This work attempts to visualise the disconnect from family, place and self after you have been stripped and removed from everything which connects you to those things.