QUILT SERIES
Photography by mae hartrick
Bedrooms have always been a sacred space to me. Not only just a safe place to rest my head at night, they have served as an escape from the world that awaits me outside. With the freedom to decorate an area as one pleases, bedrooms are an intimate insight into how one lives and what they love. I think back to my first childhood bedroom; the pastel pink walls covered in posters ripped out of ‘Total Girl’ magazine and the excessive amount of poorly printed images I found on the internet of mermaids and Hannah Montana. The ivy cascading down the fence right by my window and the moths that would dance around the leaves. Mostly, I remember the bed that would hold me at night and in the moments I longed to disappear. To come home and retreat beneath the surface of my quilt, unseen and unknown to the rest of the world. I practically believed my quilt had the powers of an invisibility cloak or a tele-porter, and that when I was under it, I was protected and unavailable to anyone outside of my room.
I introduced print-making into my practice in early 2017 whilst exploring the overarching theme of emotion and the way that it dictates the human experience. Adopting traditional print-making methods, as well as adapting them and using a more unconventional approach, I discovered a new way for myself to coherently express the narratives that were residing in my head, eagerly bursting to get out and be immortalised in a work of art.
Rainbows have always enchanted me. The heavens beaming over the world in an ethereal display of colour and light after the rain has fallen and nourished the earth. A symbol of hope and the peace that can exist after a time of darkness. A sign of unity and the beauty that is birthed from chaos and disharmony. Their ability to send bright rays of colour piercing through a cloudy sky acts as a gentle reminder of the magic that constantly surrounds me.
The Flesh of Forms / VCA student gallery 2017
The Flesh of Forms / VCA student gallery 2017
The results of my often wonky stitching makes each of my works unique and unlike the one before. I refuse to introduce a sewing machine into my practice as I believe it would take my personal touch from the works. Once I sit down and begin to sew, I descend into an almost meditative state. The motion of my hand weaving in and out of the fabric generates a rhythm, and the work begins to manifest itself into a tactile reality. Although the stitching is not precise, the quilts are formed organically and are an authentic product of my stream of consciousness.
Wine Me, Dine Me, Ditch & Decline Me / Don't Forget Your Toes 2020
My first two quilts ‘Wine Me, Dine Me, Ditch & Decline Me’ and ‘No Boy Will Love You as Much as Ur Mum Does’ set the method I have used for all of my quilts. My process is equally as tedious and time-consuming, as it is therapeutic and rewarding. Each artwork is hand-sewn, printed and assembled by myself. I do not aim to create functional art; I aim to provoke nostalgia and reflection within the audience.
The Colours of the Rainbow / Lino prints on poplin 2021
‘The Colours of the Rainbow’ is a playful depiction of my journey coming to terms with my queer identity and learning to find the beauty in vulnerability. Using both new and old prints, this piece is an intimate reflection of the persistent and often bittersweet nostalgia I feel for my childhood, as well as the last few years I’ve spent searching for “home” and inner peace. Accompanied by a poem I wrote with the same title, ‘The Colours of the Rainbow’ explores the experiences of those who find themselves at the intersection of being both queer and a person of colour. It is a celebration of those who have fallen victim to the male-heteronormative gaze that either fetishizes or ostracizes them. This work encapsulates the essence of what it means to finally come home to yourself, and to be unapologetically content in your own skin when your whole life you have been deceived into believing you shouldn’t.