Many families have a “kitchen drawer” which at first sight is a muddle, yet within is an order only understood by those who know it.
This work, housed in a drawer from my mother’s house, contains objects made using basketry techniques - coiling, plaiting and looping alongside stitch and assembly to explore materials which I use in my work.
The drawer’s contents reference family turmoil across generations, set alongside saving periods of calm, shared memories, many moments of humour and laughter, and hope for the future - hinted at by small glints of shiny metallic materials.
Cooking and sharing family meals together has huge significance too - sometimes fraught with issues, but also times of coming together with common ground alongside the pure pleasures of cooking and eating.
Some of the drawer’s contents are kitchen objects - of a sort - relating to basketry techniques which are found universally in the making of simple cooking utensils, so there is a happy connection between this work and basketry traditions more generally.