2001
machine and hand knitted wool, cotton and elastic, pompoms, buttons, glass heads
installed at firstsite at the Minories Art Gallery, Colchester

This series of work was inspired by the 17th century “scold’s bridle” which was used to punish scolds or gossips. These were, of course, primarily women as are the majority of knitters. I became interested in the idea of producing your own form of torture or punishment. Sitting down and doing something passive, creative and “useful”, such as knitting, only to have it used to punish or torture you. These cute, friendly, fluffy pieces beguile their actual use. Having the pompom in your mouth is a revolting experience, which would soon choke you. In “Wise Monkeys” the idea is taken further to also prevent you from using some of your other senses. You hearing is muffled by the pompoms. You eyes are blinded, being replaced by the traditional knitted toy’s eyes, the button.

The large bridle piece is based on an actual “scold’s bridle” in the Royal Armouries in The Tower of London. This piece contrasts pleasure with pain. The bridle is “plated” (lined) with cashmere yarn and, where as the original bridle had a serrated iron tongue for insertion into the mouth, this has a cashmere and mohair pompom. This piece also has pompoms to muffle your hearing and fastens around the face by the use of buttons instead of an iron padlock. The title “Wise Monkeys” comes from those Three Wise Monkeys who could “Hear no evil”, “See no evil” and “Speak no evil”.

(Written statement for Ikons of Identity, 
a Craftspace touring exhibition, 2001 – 2002)

2001 Knitting, hand embroidery, machine embroidery and heat transfer on found domestic linen. 
150 × 125 mm – 240 × 920 mm 
Private collection.

Lot 1189 Eighteen coloured table mats, fringed, and a quantity of d’oyleys, odd serviettes and pieces of linen.

At the back of most linen or airing cupboards you will probably find these eighteen coloured table mats, a quantity of d’oyleys, odd serviettes and pieces of linen. These items were once essential to every household but are now mostly redundant. I will look at their supposed function and the role that they played in every woman’s life. So much stitching, washing, starching, pressing and storing. These items represent so many hours of hard work and to what end? I often use word games to further my ideas and will employ this technique to come up with other forms that these textile items might take.

PIECES OF LINEN

PIECES OF LENIN

In response to all of this I will produce a series of contemporary textile pieces which, like the list above, may form a rather motley assortment of items which have come together through chance rather than intention. I will use both old and new materials, incorporating traditional techniques such as knitting, stitching and embroidery. (Statement taken from proposal for “A Public Auction of Private Art Works”, 2001) www.somewhere.org.uk/auction

Mat Fraser wears “SHORT ARMED AND DANGEROUS”

2000
Machine knitted wool

730 × 480 mm

Catherine Long wears “AT ONE”
2001
Machine knitted wool, hand embroidered cotton yarn
460 × 400 mm

Commissioned by The City Gallery, Leicester
for Adorn, Equip, an exhibition discussing issues surrounding design and disability.

BODY 
NO BODY 
S0ME BODY 
ANY BODY

Wordplay formed the basis of these two commissions made for, and in conjunction with, Mat Fraser and Catherine Long. Strong, confrontational wording with an element of humour and the unexpected.

Disability has long been the butt of jokes. I can remember the one about the one legged, one armed man who was getting on the bus and the bus conductor said to him, “Hop on, you look (h)armless”. I wanted to turn these and other “accepted” jokes and sayings upside down. With Mat, who has short arms, we also wanted to challenge the commonly held assumption that disabled people are passive and somehow harmless. I originally had the wording ARMLESS AND DANGEROUS in mind, a play on “Armed and Dangerous”. Mat is far from harmless but, as he corrected me, he is not armless either. He is in fact SHORT ARMED AND DANGEROUS. This exactness of language is very important. It is not about political correctness, it is about thinking, caring and acceptance. Catherine has one arm, she does not only have one arm. The “only” implies some kind of loss or deficiency which is far from the truth. We used the word ONE on both her sweater and glove. Her glove has the word ONE embroidered across the knuckles, where you might otherwise have “love” or “hate” tattooed. When she holds her clenched fist up and flicks out her thumb it has the word UP embroidered on it. She is ONE-UP. The tattoo theme was taken through into her sweater. She has a butterfly and a bunch of daisies, symbols which have significant personal meaning for Catherine,   embroidered onto her shoulder. There is a banner running through the daisies, which reads AT ONE. She is at one with her one arm, why aren’t you?

(Written statement for “Adorn, Equip”, a Leicester City Gallery touring exhibition, 2001 – 2002)

www.adornequip.co.uk

2000
machine knitted wool
1510 × 580 × 700 mm
installed at Sotheby’s, London

2000
Machine knitted wool, buttons, silk, wood, upholstery materials
990 × 490 × 260 mm
Private commission.
Collaboration with Mary Little, furniture designer and maker.

This commission came about in an unusual way. I had never met Mary Little before but we had a private client in common. The three of us were at the Jerwood Furniture Awards at the Crafts Council Gallery in London where Mary was exhibiting, having been short-listed for the award. The client introduced us saying that he had a plan for the two of us. He wanted to commission us to make him something although he knew that we had never met before and that we were unfamiliar with each others work. He rang Mary the next week with his budget and said that we were to make him a surprise. He did not want to see any working drawings or discuss the piece. We were just given a cheque up front and told to get on with it.

Mary and I met twice. The first time to brainstorm and to get to know each other and our respective work. The second time to come up with a final design. We phoned each other continuously and faxed and posted drawings and colour ideas. Mary also sent the client a contract. It was a straightforward process if a little slow. The collaborative design process was very inspiring. It pushed us further than we could ever have got alone and took us off in new, unexpected directions. Neither of us could have come up with the piece alone.

Our final design, “Footsie”, satisfied us both in terms of aesthetics, function and form. It was also a piece which fully represented both of us. We had conceived of it together but we now had to use our individual skills to fulfill it. Mary started by making the base and then it was passed backwards and forwards between us with me doing the knitting and Mary finally upholstering it.

“Footsie” is a large, lozenge shaped footstool on rockers. The upholstered stool has buttons sewn around the perimeter, onto which a knitted cover is buttoned. The knitted cover has two pairs of socks attached to it, one pair facing the other. When placed between two seated people they can rock it by putting their feet into the socks and moving their feet backwards and forwards. I also embroidered our names “Little Robins”, the word “Footsie” and the cleaning instructions onto the knitted cover in a contrasting colour.

(Statement originally written for “Artists’ Stories”, a-n website, 2000)