CrossStitcher Magazine

So, there will be an interview with moi in CrossStitcher Magazine, issue 225, out on the 25th March. I realise that most of you already have a subscription, but for those who don't, get ye to a WHSmith, this is my first interview.

The picture was taken by my darling Mariaflora who came all the way from Athens to help me ;-)

Dalston Superstore Show

I am very pleased to announce that I will be having a show at Dalston Superstore in May. I am meeting the curator Alex Noble on Monday and hope he agrees to a wild intervention. I am very excited about making some new work, I have been holding off, because my studio is like some crazy ladies attic it is so jammed full of work, its seems surreal installations are not big sellers! But screw it, I am going to muscle my way in there today and make a start. So I will keep you up to date with dates and private view etc. xx xx

Beware of Embroidery

Here are the pictures from my show and a little bit about the work:

This body of work explores the affair between nature and society. Are they simbiotic or opposing forces and which is the most powerful? Societal fairness in return for great expectations versus natures flipancy, yet mistifyingly complex system.

In particular, how these phenomena affect relationships and the force of procreation. Louise has looked to biology, chemistry, literally and metaphorically, she has looked to textiles, which its array of grid and dna-like construction to find the solutions, the logic in this chaos. Discarded mattresses, the backbone of the works, for their inbuilt personal history, both corporeal and spiritual,

to create a domestic wonderland of human experience.

'Bjorn'

'Mia'

'Dewlyweds'

The inspiration for Dewlyweds came when searching for something that resembled marriage in the animal kingdom,since the design of marriage had been a societal one and may not have necessarily been what nature intended. When snails mate they shoot calcium spears into eachothers flesh to disable each other, so that fertilisation takes place without the possibility of any other 'suitors' getting involved. This seemed a good comparison.

'Family Tree'

Family Tree began from an interview with a young male gay couple planning their future with view to include children. I was interested in the force to procreate despite obstacles, ie uncomplimentary genitals. Society has overruled nature and has established the possibility of gay couples creating offspring, it is all quite fresh and new and I am yet to decide whether the problems that could arise would be of any greater magnitude to the trials heterosexual couples face. The nest is made from two sets of the molecular structure for testosterone questioning the vitalness of the simple chemistry.

The tree highlights the differences in the modern family tree, the 'nest' and 'birds' are often associated with femaleness. I was impressed with the young men. They definitely felt that there needed to be some sort of female representation in their childrens lives and the depth of their honesty and thoughtfulness with each other perhaps gave them an advantage

over couples who could 'just do it' so to speak.

from this point onwards excuse the underline, at present I cannot figure out how to switch it off

'Light Perspective'

In the words of Dolly Parton:

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.

'Mother of Pearl'

There is alot of conflicting information regarding how to bring up children. Less weight is given to motherly instincts when reading information books, the language can be very extreme and it can inspire great fear. In the early times with a baby it can feel very life and death, there is this powerful feeling of nurturing, intimacy and protection, paralleled with great threat, ie cot death and the dangers of the 'family bed'. It is a very intense time, Mother of Pearl is an illustration of this, I even bought the mattress, because of this overwhelming urge to make it sterile for this brand new baby. The whiteness of everything highlights this and the saftey net and glass stalagmites give the sense of these invisible but very present forces.