Exhibition Statement
‘you made me remember’ consists of small textile collages and laser cut and hand-carved plywood paintings. This is a happy exhibition. In this body of work, I attempted to create as my young children did. I watched them draw without intention and inhabit only the moment of creation. These works are driven by my subconscious and with the confidence I have in knowing that my intuition will dictate what comes next. They are an external manifestation of my creative energy. Having no clear agenda, they are about process. About how the work grows. About discovery and about the pure joy of making. Adding and subtracting. Shifting. Making mistakes, allowing accidents to dictate the direction of each piece. Getting excited about how one colour, one texture, one pattern interacts with what lies beside. Working until it feels right. Once the collage was pieced and pinned, my hands took over. I fused the work together with slow hand stitching, embroidery, and applique. I spent time with the work. The more I manipulated it, the more life I breathed into it. Material objects carry their histories, and vintage textiles, with all their wear and tear, reveal the hand of their original maker. As I slowly and carefully stitched these pieces, long-lost personal memories began to surface for me. Ghostly colours, textures, sensations, sounds. They made me remember.
