Lost in Transit (2023)

Curated by Alex Boyd Jones, the intention of this exhibition was to re-imagine some of the ‘hazy, distorted, incomplete or absent narratives’ of the historic Carriageworks - a site of manufacture in the heart of Denbigh and now studioMADE with Angela Davies and Mark Eaglen

Metal remnants of the undercarriages seemed to me like the negative space of what they supported in terms of upholstery and human cargo and suggestive of the interconnection between human, animal and machine within past manufacture in the building. 

initial sketches: acrylic ink on photo paper

led to digital collages

 leading to drawings on board (below 81x122.5cms), supported by horse remains found in the Black Mountains. I was thinking more about labour, about who carries whom: about the toll on bodies and flesh (whether person or horse) and equine contributions to manufacture in raw material such as glue, horse hair stuffing.

Meanwhile horsehair sourced byAlex and from stables near my home and studio inspired me to try traditional braiding as done on horse tails, with frames inherited from my family.

A blending of personal and researched narratives was amplified by a bereavement during this process. I thought of mourning jewellery using human hair, and my worked horsehair pieces became a way of trying to hold in mind and honour the lives and labour that were part of the Carriageworks story. 

detail of one work, showing inclusion of a tiny piece of human hair memorial jewellery 

Now they are a kind of memorial to all the sharing, learning and fun of the Lost in Transit project with every-one involved, not least fellow artists Louise Short and Zoe Preece