Cross Pollination

Currently on exhibition - "Art of the Stitch & Scholar"
The Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead

Cross Pollination - detail

Currently on exhibition - "Art of the Stitch & Scholar"
The Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead
(Image: Pinegate Photographics)

This installation has not only been inspired by images of flower heads, seed pods, and magnified pollen (pollen images generously loaned to Michelle by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and the Danforth Plant Science Center, Missouri, USA), but also represents a single frozen moment in time as the Arimatsu artisans would bind their cloth in execution of the Kumo Shibori pattern (Spiderweb pattern).

Endogenous Series

Endogenous, meaning ‘from within’, refers to my own Endogenous Depression, but also to the act of giving my inner-most feelings a physical form. This series of sculptures has become the means by which I externalise my continuing battle with depression. Whilst the sculptures represent my inner-self, bound by the constraints of depression, their inherent purity and beauty are a testament to the new confidence and inner peace I have gained through my art. The act of hand stitching and binding the fabric is as important to me as the resulting sculpture. The concept of “the hand healing the mind” is a significant aspect of my work; the repetitive rhythmical action of stitching or binding the cloth being a meditative one. By becoming “one with the cloth” one is taken out of oneself. The act of engaging with the cloth removes one from depressive self-absorption.

The realisation of my own depression has led to my preoccupation with how other sufferers instantiate their own condition.
My resolve is to explore/record these through an extensive series of sculptural pieces.

Endogenous II Detail

Endogenous III Detail

Currently on exhibition - "Art of the Stitch & Scholar" The Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead

(Image: Mark Cleghorn)

Endogenous I

(Image: Mark Cleghorn)

Endogenous I

Endogenous V - detail

(Image: Pinegate Photographics)