Gallery
Below are examples of pieces made by participants of my workshops, alongside my own artworks and reflective projects
Participants Pieces - Solidarity Skirt - Reflective Robe
Solidarity Skirt
This skirt was made by women who attended a textile project at Swindon's Harbour Project.
It's purpose was to promote connection and agency by designing and sewing together, and through that sharing, celebrating stories and cultural heritage. The inspiration for the skirt was the patchwork 'Liberation skirts', made by members of the Dutch women's resistance during the Second World War as a symbol of solidarity and hope.
The project was run by community textiles artist, Sophia Spink (Chaffinch Arts), as part of her MA in Arts for Health and Wellbeing at the University of South Wales, with the help of Harbour volunteer Claire, and alongside colleagues from Harbour and Swindon Borough Council.
A special thank you goes to the women who took part in the making of this beautiful skirt:
Reflective Robe - Echo
I created this robe as part of my MA in Arts for Health and Wellbeing.
This work started as a stitch journal. Most days I would stitch into pieces of cloth that I had kept over the years. My intention was to connect more deeply with my emotions and express my embodied experiences through stitch with the hope of improving my sense of wellbeing.
At first I used observations from my environment as inspiration.The colours and shapes I was observing on my walks in nature. I found this process very calming. The repetitive stitches allowed my mind to rest.
As I started to stitch into fabrics that held a sentimental value for me I discovered a different response.While handling the materials and stitching into these fabrics, the memories of the time I had spent wearing them or with the love ones who had worn them came flooding back and I was able to almost relive those times through this process.
By sewing the fabric pieces onto a robe I enabled myself to literally be enveloped by those memories. Wearing it feels comforting and enriching.
I have named this robe “Echo” after the imaginary friend I had as a young child who I named Echo. The echoes of the past, felt more clearly by stitching in the present, which has strengthened and brightened my sense of the future.
