Textile Works

Covid Diary Triptych

“Covid Diary” consists of three hand-stitched, textile panels created between 2020–2022. Materials were gleaned from scraps of textile and clothing from my domestic environment with sensual textures i.e., fake fur, nightdress material, silk, cotton sheets highlighted. The panels explore touch, the intimate female body and the uncanny embedded in a sense of collective resistance, survival and solidarity during the Global Pandemic. These panels were very portable and came with me on daily walks to parks and friends’ gardens; Infused with moods of confusion, sometimes fear and loss and isolation. The fragility and uncertainty of those times is reflected in the final panel, titled Silver Lining. It contains a large, furry question mark on a background of silver lining, and plays with the associated quote of optimism – suggesting new opportunities from unforeseen circumstances. The act of hand-sewing was so soothing as I tried to organise my feelings, observations and conflicted emotions. Each panel depicts a theme: “Day”, “Night” and “Silver Lining” and, like any diary, suggests recording the passing of time. “Day” depicts a figure within a figure, with gentle tears dropping from her eyes and in the top left hand corner a figure is falling, surrounded by small black tombstones. “Night” draws on the angst of Surrealism and also depicts a dreamlike galaxy.

Panel No 1 "Day"

Dimensions: L 106 x W 66 cms (each)
Medium: mixed textile fragments, thread, nylon stocking, fake fur
Date 2021

Detail

Panel No 2 "Night"

Dimensions: L 106 x W 66 cms (each)
Medium: mixed textile fragments, thread, fabric markers, nylon stocking, fake fur
Date 2021

Detail

Panel No 3 "Silver Lining"

Dimensions: L 106 x W 66 cms Medium: mixed silk textile fragments, thread, fake fur
Date 2021

Detail