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 Mourning Craft- Keepsake Craft









Mourning craft is an exploration into the textiles craft industry in the UK. The outcome is informed by the history of craft and concerned with its future. The three images touch on the treatment of craftswomen and the poverty suff ered by craftspeople through deindustrialisation. The subjects of the piece are communicated through the lens of medieval keepsakes to celebrate textile crafts and to commemorate what the UK is slowly losing. It is intended to be used in a museum setting. I wanted to highlight the separation between craftsperson and craft with this embroidery. The hand is inspired by a keepsake toy glove Martha Edlin embroidered in the 17thC. The fi nger is pricked uncomfortably deep by a sewing needle representing the suff ering and labour committed by a craftsperson. The blood from the wound drips onto the lace cuff , something made by a Lacemaker, but historically something they could never aff ord. This piece shows the disparity between how a craftsperson is valued and how their work is valuable. It displays How the UK’s industrialisation removed the maker from the craft without consideration of the skill lost. The acorns are informed by another keepsake from around the 17thC, a small and fragile nutshell decorated in silk threads. The embroidery details the delicate state of craft in the UK after industrialism and deindustrialisation. The fi rst acorn appears more natural and untouched than the lower two. But smoke plumes around the fi rst acorn leading to the second. The middle is tarnished by fi re and smoke, discarding the woven threads from the fi rst. The last is left hollow and leaving a trail of broken shell similar to the industrial buildings, which now stand as empty shells waiting to turn into retail or accommodation. The second embroidered hand focuses on the role women played in UK textile crafts. May Morris was the head of embroidery at Morris&co, a skilled craftswoman and artist in her own right. May produced many designs for the company including, the wallpaper ‘honeysuckle’. For over a century ‘honeysuckle’ was attributed to William Morris along with several of her designs and she remains largely unknown. The honeysuckle crushed in the palm of the embroidery symbolises the unknown women who still go unrecognised for their skill. The dainty curved cuff a reminder of the constraints often placed on the craftswoman.