Showing the Unseen

Sharing some of my work about hidden stories of care at Cultures of Care Gathering 19-20 July

Usually I work towards exhibitions all the time, with a known location and display arrangement in a museum, art gallery or even library, corridor or empty shop. For various reasons, my Cultures of Care project hasn’t culminated in an exhibition. I have held a couple of tiny ones in my own garden studio, but I have no had a showcase of all the work I’ve created over the last two years.

Instead, I’ve come up with Cultures of Care Gathering which is happening over one weekend in a village hall in the nearby Woodhouse Eaves, Leicestershire, a few miles from home. It’s also in the heart of Charnwood Forest, the inspiration behind quite a lot of my work in this whole endeavour.

This gives me the unique opportunity to share all the work that I have done over the two years, most of which has not been seen that much, if at all, and also share the experience of the project. I’ve worked with other artists, I have done residencies in community gardens which mostly leave no material trace and I have learned, researched, reflected and studied, all of which leaves nothing to show, mostly.

The Cultures of Care Gathering has space for talks and reflections, shared presentations with other artists, somewhere to show my project films on a large screen, and crucially, space to spread out my textile work so it can be seen and handled.

I love my work to be touched. It is tactile, it is more meaningful in real life and it needs to be experienced rather than just seen.

My work will be on show during the weekend, alongside talks, workshops and other activities. You can visit to browse and see the work without taking part in workshops, if that’s not your thing. Come and have a chat with me and the other artists. You can find the full programme of activities here.

Some of the work I am sharing at Cultures of Care Gathering