We Are the Spaces That I Am 2010 – 2015 is a project that looked at the history of embroidery and female mental health. I had been using embroidery for a year or so running up to this project as I had been looking at my own history with the medium. My maternal grandmother had taught me various creative techniques and mediums but for some reason embroidery is an action and aesthetic that stuck with me, eventually becoming a key part of my visual language. I had wanted to create a project with a performative aspect for my MA final piece that could also be shown as an installation (though if I’d had the chance I would’ve wanted to install myself in the space for a week).
The installation of We Are the Spaces That I Am had sheets of fabric attached to the walls of the space to give the idea of a cell, further sheets of fabric were attached within the space. These pieces were embroideries based on conversations I had with the participants of a women’s art therapy group, Sweet Arts, I volunteered with. In the performance I situated myself in the space stitching new pieces of embroidery that were then added to installation.
This installation was first shown in 2010 and Norwich University of the Arts, and again in 2015 at Thirteen A gallery space.
J C Swindells 