Angel of Eternal Life

  At some point in the early C20th Edmond Bordeaux Szekely  claimed to have discovered and translated lost gospels from the Bible called the Gospels of the Essenes. In the second gospel Christ describes fourteen angels and their tasks and I was very taken with the beauty of the descriptions. 

  Many years and several version later I have started a series of needlelace pieces reflecting on the angels and here is the first, the Angel Of Eternal Life.

                                                          

 

 My inspiration is often from nature and this time it is the lace lichen found in California, Ramalina Menziesii. A hanging lichen which grows in the most extraordinary shapes, no two are alike, their looping web shapes are intricate and full of wonder.

  This piece is about 20x20cm and is made in hand dyed silks. From start to finish about fifty hours work, it took an hour just to unmount the lace from the backing. It has a pleasing 3D effect as it was designed in the round and so hangs from any point in a curl.

  The design started life several years ago as part of another piece, still in progress, and it was an epiphany when I realised that it should be entirely separate. It quickly came into being after that which goes to show that some ideas take a long time to brew before you get the right one.

 

 Angel of Eternal Life,

Here and now

Is the mystery revealed.

Here and now

Is the curtain lifted.

link for the angels here

link for information on the lichen here

Half Sick of Shadows

 

   It seems so long ago now but the impact of lockdown on people who live alone was intense. I began a project called "Forget-me Not" and some of that has already been documented on this blog. Somehow though this piece got left out!

   In essence it is a medieval style hanging book containing photographs of friends, selfies that either show them in a mirror or holding an object that we have in common. Inspired by the story of the Lady of Shalott, doomed to always see the world via a mirror as she embroidered, I asked for a modern version for my almanac of touch.

Hanging from a handmade lucet cord it is covered in linen embroidered with linen thread. The cover has two stumpwork mirrors facing each other, eternally reflecting each other over a single virus.

On the back, worked in Bayeux stitch, is the ancient image of the pelican pecking her own breast. As a symbol of sacrifice it usually has a nest underneath but here she is alone.

 

Once all the embroidery was done I printed and bound all the photos into it. Each page was folded in on itself in the style of these old books.

hand stitched eyelet holes for the cord.

the wired frame and satin stitched mirror glass.

below, details of the end papers and covers being worked before mounting.

virus pattern in space dyed thread

 

The image that began it, taken a week into the lockdown here in the UK; the endless reflection of self through lens and mirror surface.

Shop!

 

 I have a new shop!!! https://fleuroakes.bigcartel.com/

For all your embroidered objects and mossy thynges....

chained teaspoon

mossy shell

embroidered suspender

darned needle

embroidered thimble

Deathtrap Staircase

 

The Tears of Thynges

 

 I am no musician but nevertheless I decided about ten years ago that I was in a band, a conceptual band that made conceptual sounds. Named after the access to my studio 'we' spent over a decade collecting noises, some of them tangible and some of them that can't be heard by everyone. 

 Finally I have released them all on 78, with embroidered labels, and in the process realised that even a supposed hard format is in itself conceptual because without the means to play the disc we can only trust that there is sound. Luckily these 'recordings' are already in your head, some literally, and are therefore free to listen to and it is only the artwork that is lacking...

So hear I present my first album 'L'Aiguilles Verres'

Tensor Tympani

Purring

Pi

Internal Screaming

Embers

Bloodstain Soundwave

Velvet

The Tears of Thynges remix

L'Aiguilles Verres

Eustacian Clicks (extra track)

Tracklist:

 1.The Tears of Thynges

2.Tensor Tympani

3.Purring

4.Pi

5.Internal Screaming

6.Embers

7.Bloodstain Soundwave

8.Velvet

9.The Tears of Thynges remix

10. Eustacian Clicks (extra track)

 

Baggage packed

  

Cultural Shifts

'just a little footnote to show how the mail order emotions are all packed and ready!!

Emotional Copes

Emotional Copes

 

   These are from the Forget Me Not project from 2020 and form the second half of the mail order emotion section, they are the Emotional Copes. I didn't know how I was coping during lockdown and so these are perhaps uncomfortably personal pieces and some of the oddest I have ever made !!!

 

   A cope is a cape like garment worn mostly but not exclusively by members of the Christian church. It is a flat semi circle with a fabric tab fastening at the front and on the back often has a panel or tab which has decoration symbolic to the wearer. In some cathedrals you can still find the large semicircular chests that they were kept in.

  In order of appearance here we have :

1. 'I'm Fine'. Gold organza, gold gallon ribbon, pins and red beads. (above)

2.' Pocket Full'. Silk  gold gallon ribbon, silk fortune teller and pockets of herbs. (embroidered braille along the top edge says "ring a ring of roses".

3. 'Im Sorry'. Silver Organza on silk, silver gallon ribbon, beads and embroidery.

  4. 'Shaky Hands'. Silver metal organza, silver gallon ribbon, embroidery and fabric printouts of a benefit letter. 

5. 'Sleep'. Gold metal fabric, gold gallon ribbon, beads, gold fringe and naturally shed cat fur (it was a hot summer and he was okay with it !)

 It was the play on words that appealed to me but I also liked the idea of the symbolic embroidery on the back. Each of mine has a simple 'forget-me-not' embroidery for both the project and for my name. These are of course at twelfth scale like the Cultural Shifts ( see previous posts).

SomeBody

 

   As a rule I don't generally put my medical work on this blog as I don't want to scare off the unwary! However it has been taking up a lot of headspace and so rather than neglect things over here I will share some technical details from my most recent piece for Imperial College, 'SomeBody'.

  The work here is from a medical model which is being performed for young people in an anti knife crime initiative.The basis for the visuals is as ever historical and contemporary textile techniques used as metaphors for the anatomy.

  Buttonholes become stab wounds, rouleaux loops become blood vessels, 18th century frills are muscles, silk purses become digestive organs and origami becomes heart and lungs.

  There is a series over on the Thread Management blog (linked in the side bar) featuring it in more detail.

Spare Parts

 

 Paul Craddock has just published his book "Spare Parts: A Surprising History of Transplants". His extensive research into the history of the techniques of surgery found us both examining antique embroideries at the V&A museum and later led to filming me stitching cigarette paper. 

This post shows that film    

In the film clip above Paul discusses what is was all about.

and now you can buy the book!