In Memoriam
shortlisted for Changing Threads, New Zealand Contemporary Fibre Art Awards, 2022
I stitched this never-ending circle of life, full of loops and turns, in direct response to having just discovered that my great grandmother had spent the last 26 years of her life as a patient of Seacliff Mental Hospital. With no family photos, no mementos, no gravestone, “In Memoriam” is my attempt to piece together the facts of her life. As I stitched I wondered what her life must have been like and the circumstances which lead to her committal; widowhood, losing a son in World War 1, and a large family including a toddler to care for. I reflected on how the treatment and stigma of mental illness has changed over the years, but that it is still often hidden. |
Windblown
"Blanketed" series
Needle felted wool on woolen blankets.