Years, Months, Days – Mixed Media Installation

‘Years, Months, Days’ explores the comfort of home, childhood and preservation of memory, seeking to bridge the gap between past and present within a space. By combining traditional and alternative crafting techniques, material and scent in my sculptural installation work, I endeavour to embody the hazy, dreamlike quality of memory and essence of place.

Employing sewing in my work, a skill passed down to me as a child through generations of women in my family, has prompted me to reconsider the art itself. The stitch not only repairs, it also gives rise to new creation and can therefore be viewed in the same way a pencil or brush leaves its mark. Using sewing as a basis for the creation of my art also acts as a metaphor for my changing sense of both self and familial relationships.

I am fascinated with olfactory memory; how smells are interwoven with our own lived experiences and thus become strongly associated with feeling, places and emotional states. Personally, lavender brings back powerful memories from my childhood. In this work, lavender exists in both physical and perfume form – scattered throughout the ten installation elements and in the air of the installation space. Smell triggers and heightens the impact of memory and nostalgia itself; by using this specific scent, it provides an invisible but important structural element for the viewer.

The layers of lace and fabric in this work are a combination of my grandmothers bedsheets and curtains along with additional reclaimed fabric. The deep fold of material (far left corner) embody a maternal presence and envelop the sleeping figure below them – safely, gently and quietly. The figure lies, partly concealed and subtly projects the innocence and vulnerability of the sleeping child self directly into the space, protected by the soft fabrics hung from above.

Installation Elements: (moving clockwise from left to right wall)

1. Past Lives (Triptych) 2022 – lace, pressed flowers, latex, varnish, thread, each 9” x 15.2”
2. Once in Dreams 2022 – lace, bedsheet, curtains, doily, latex, pressed flowers, rocks, stuffing, wire, tights, thread, 110” x 136”
3. Small Lives 2022 – teabags, hair, lavender, wax, thread, wood, 11.8” x 9.8”
4. Untitled (1 of 2) 2022 – lace, wooden stretcher, staples, 31” x 24”
5. Untitled (2 of 2) 2022 – lace, wooden stretcher, staples, 15.5” x 19.5”
6. Fresh Air 2022 – lace, voile, dead butterfly (ethically sourced), pressed flower, latex, thread, 27” x 28.5”
7. The Scrap Basket – 2022, lace, basket, scrap material, needles, tights, lavender, dried flowers, diffuser, 14” x 14”
8. Weapon (1 of 2) 2022 – doily, printed fabric, 5.5” x 9.4“
9. Self as Fossil 2022 – lavender, hair, 101 teabags, wax, wood, rocks, wire, wool, thread, 41 x 81.6 inches
10. Weapon (2 of 2) 2022 – doily, printed fabric, 5.5” x 9.4”