In the body of work 'Comfort Blankets' I use found and recycled materials combined with traditional quiltmaking techniques to express particular emotions and to explore what we all do to comfort ourselves, working with an emphasis on a personal response to everyday life and contemporary issues.
I am particularly interested in the ideas of comfort and suppression. Does hiding under the blankets provide warmth and security? Or covering up and protection? Many children have a 'security blanket' Security against what? A practical protection against the cold or an emotional protection? A comforter? What are adult comforters? Is 'under the covers' a place to retreat and hide away from the world? Or to relax and dream? Do we suppress our feelings with comforting behaviours? Comfort eating?
Often my quilts include a suggested figure, a print or outline. This emphasises that they are for real people, touching on universal issues like homelessness or depression. I want people to imagine laying underneath my quilts. The material properties express particular emotions while the scale and authenticity make them both accessible and disconcerting.
Made from chocolate and biscuit wrappers in between layers of organza, backed with blanket. Machine quilted and edged with tape measures.200cm x 150cm
Inspired by the paper layers inside old quilts: made of hexagons of tabloid newspapers and Bible pages, machine sewn. Double sided - made to be viewed from both sides. 195cm x 130cm
Made from clothes found abandoned on the streets. Hand quilted with blanket backing. A chalked outline figure to suggest an event. 190cm x 150cm
Made from Guinness cans all drunk by one person, cut and machine sewn in "Drunkard's Path" traditional pattern. Edged by hand and backed with blanket. 180cm x 140cm
Stones and pills machine sewn in between distressed layers of scrim and blanket. 147cm x 191cm
Cardboard hand sewn in "Courthouse Steps" log cabin design. Including pieces of maps and backed with newspaper property pages. With a life sized print/stain to suggest use. 200cm x 140cm
Made from plastic tobacco packets, cut and machine sewn. Cotton fabric central squares and backing. Life sized figure picked out in rolling papers. 180cm x 140cm
Machine sewn paper hexagons from used road maps with train ticket edging and fabric backing. Finished to suggest an old fashioned school atlas and/or medical illustration. 180cm x 140cm