did your granny have a hammer? is an exploration of the things which our hands hold and employ. Ireland has the second highest percentage of single-sex schools in Europe. The optional subjects on offer in all-girls schools often exclude metal work, woodwork, engineering and technical graphics as subject options, it’s no surprise that women account for just 1 percent of craft apprenticeships in Ireland. Conversely, in all-boys schools, it’s common that the subject of Home Economics is omitted from the curriculum. My graduate collection pulls from traditional symbols of gender and the materials and processes associated with them. Through combinations, I subvert limitations and highlight a symbiosis.
What tools do your hands hold?
To what extent has your gender influenced this?
Did your granny have a hammer?
did your granny have a hammer?, sterling silver, recycled school skirt, embroidery hoop
did your granny have a hammer?, sterling silver, recycled school skirt, embroidery hoop
Brute force and determination, copper vessel
Brute force and determination, copper vessel
hold my handle, magnetised knit necklace, copper wire, sterling silver, neodymium magnets
hold my handle, magnetised knitted necklace, copper wire, sterling silver, neodymium magnets (detail)
specimen, necklace, copper wire, steel, lead, sterling silver
knitting with silver wire, process
Research
Directions in needlework and textiles for national female schools of Ireland
A woman wielding a hammer in protest, behaving like a boy lands her in prison