“For every child that was denied their mother’s love, and for every mother who was denied the love of her child”.
My project, Cuimhneas, was inspired by the book Belonging by Catherine Corless and Naomi Linehan. Additionally, I have been inspired by my familial relationship with Mother and Baby Homes. I have focused on the loveless childhoods of 'the Home Babies'. Conveyed through the themes of mending and nurture, I have designed a collection of healing textiles influenced by the baby blankets the children were buried in. I aim to create textiles that can bring comfort to victims of similar depravity.
In my practice, I am interested in the significance of cloth, both emotionally and historically and choose concepts I have an emotional connection to. I like to adapt classic weaving, knitting and natural dying techniques to tell the story of the concept. Each sample tells the story of an individual survivor.
Concept board for Cuimhneas (memory).
Swaddle (Peter’s), blanket, honeycomb, silk warp, mohair weft
Dove (Martin's blanket), feather filled knit, alpaca yarn
Blue Shoes, indigo dyed knit, visible mending, merino wool
Comfort (Michael’s blanket), warp floats and cut weft floats, linen, cashmere, lambswool & cotton
Mother (PJ’s blanket), blocks of plain weave and mock Leno, fluffy silk weft, mohair warp
Healing (Anne’s design), laddered knit filled with waste yarn, merino wool
Family ties (Nora’s blanket), distorted weft weave, avocado dyed feather yarns, cotton/lambswool warp
Love (Julia’s blanket), Mock Leno, mohair warp and weft
Moral Fibre (Catherine’s blanket), logwood dyed knit, filled with beans, merino wool