States of Existence

Very happy to be selected for States of Existence, the first exhibition in the new Hackney Well Space. Curated by Tugba Tirpan and Sophie Akehurst, the show featured a range of artworks exploring life's difficulties, to coincide with World Mental Health Day on 10 October 2019.

My three pieces in the show blurred gender boundaries to examine the phallocentric construction of femininity, and the societal pressure to conform to both a standard role and beauty ideal. The pieces play with the nurturing-destructive duplicity of the Mother archetype, as the homely associations of knitting become alien, when mutated into taboo body parts. Nippy, has overtones of the serpent in the biblical tale Adam and Eve, and consists of a long knitted intestine, culminating in a phallic-like breast. Knitted Womb explores Freudian penis-envy with an umbilical cord acting as a substitute phallus. While Mutter IV plays with the feminine quality of the colour pink, as tactile softness is counteracted with coarse pubic-like fibres, to celebrate the natural female form.