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| Detail of "Cranial Collapse" |
Working with traditional hand craft techniques, specifically knitting and sewing with wool and fabric to produce works which fit into the fine art arena.
"Cranial Collapse" (above) Skulls have been machine sewn over tissue-paper onto a sheer curtain fabric, the sewing is haphazardly applied with no attention to detail of line. Threads are left hanging and there is some puckering, certain areas of paper have been torn, mainly near the eyes, which helps to give the images an almost realistic, dry skull appearance.
"Face Off " These two skulls began as paper mache' molds shaped over an educational plastic skull. The paper mache' was painted to seal the skull mold. Then the real fun started, the idea of the knitted skulls was in my head but I had no idea how the concept could be realized. Eventually, while sitting in front of one of the molds I simply started to knit.
Using pure good quality knitting wool and knitting needles I began to form the skull by starting from behind the upper jaw, casting on stitches, and decreasing as necessary. Fitting the woollen shape over the skull as I went, always with the skull mold in front of me. The eye sockets were the most difficult but there is a way to shape baby booties and that was how the sockets were formed.
As I was knitting, each row needed to be recorded as a written patten, because, obviously there was the second skull to be crafted. When the knitting was completed, it was pulled over the skull shape and the eye sockets were glued into the mold. The rest was attached using a large darning needle threaded with the same wool, this was used to sew through the paper mache' in several places to hold the knitting in position over the skull. Then the process was repeated for the second skull, and the two lower jaws, which also had to be attached firmly to the main part of the skulls. A big challenge, but it gave me great satisfaction... when it was finished.
"Hankie Head" There are many small skulls pinned to the wall, this will be done in such a way as to form an image of a much larger skull from within the negative space between them.
The small skulls were made from old pre used handkerchiefs, which have been torn into thin strips. These pieces of fabric are held together with flour and water paste. One hankie can make two or three skull shapes, always using only fabric from one handkerchief for each little skull. That is, not mixing the fabrics, in a single skull.
The negative shape should be the important story told from this work, skulls are a symbol of a life finished, and surely a 'negative' skull is an even stronger symbol of an end. As this whole exhibition is, 'an end' of the degree.
