Slow Stitch
The Toll (2022)
30 cm X 700 cm
Hand dyed cheesecloth, cotton stabiliser, batting, perle cotton embroidery thread and a Swarovski crystal
A simple stitch marking each death due to covid in the UK, starkly, in rows and rows and rows.
The work has been purposefully left un-edged, uneven and unfinished in sympathy with the rawness of the subject matter. The needle, still with thread, left on the last row as part of the work. The colours red, black and grey amongst the white representing the anger, pain, bleakness and loss in those affected by each death.
The Toll was started on 29 January 2021 when the death toll in the UK reached 100,000
The 100,000 stitch is marked with a Swarovski crystal.
The piece consists of 520 rows and holds 145,046 stitches. This number of deaths was reached on 24th September 2021.
The final stitch was stitched on 18 June 2022.
Covid Notes (2020)
A set of four, each 33 X 33 cm
Stitched letters on cheesecloth
Expressing the feelings and thoughts that emerged during the first months of 2020