Trousseau, Vintage laundry box with 13 pieces of vintage linen, 2018-present

It was a bold move to produce work for my graduation show with not a face in sight. I was studying  Contemporary Portraiture but there were no faces to be found here. That is still the case.

 My project Trousseau was created in tandem with the search for my long lost family. My mother died when I was young and her mother was institutionalised while she was still a baby. There were no mementoes, no photos… I didn’t even know my grandmother’s name. 

Through the bald facts of census documentation I met a string of east end laundresses and char women. Many were dead, widowed or institutionalised while still in their thirties. No wonder family ties came apart.

I have told these women’s stories through hand-stitching – a repetitive and labour-intensive process so often derided as women’s work. Here I have used it as an expressive artistic language, aiming to extend beyond narrative to conjure up a very real sense of these strong and resilient women. 

The project is ongoing with new pieces added as information comes to light.

Thanks to Nadia Thompson for selecting Trousseau to show at Pieces of Me at ArtWorks East Gallery, London E10.

Stitches make repairs and heal wounds. They can bring together that which has fallen apart. 

My thanks go to Ancestry.co.uk for making a seemingly-impossible task possible and particularly for connecting me with two living relatives who – when all hope really was gone – were able to provide essential information I thought I’d never have. My heartfelt thanks, Christine and Rosemary.

Huge thanks also to my course leaders and mentors at Art Academy London: Sue Spaull, Roxana Halls and Sadie Lee. And to my brilliant peer group: Alessandra Bettolo, Ali Rideout, Bridget Rampton, Caroline Wong, Fiona Land, Joanna Watts and Michele Opoku-Taylor for filling our time with such incredible friendship, inspiration, love and support. What amazing sisters to have.