Threads and Yarns

Threads and Yarns was an intergenerational project in 2011with Central Saint Martins BA Textiles, University College London and Wellcome Trust. I collaborated with Jo Morrison, (CSM) Rebecca Hoyes (CSM) and Anne Marr (CSM) . The project was originated by the Wellcome Trust and lead by Central Saint Martins to celebrate the Wellcome Trust’s 75th anniversary focusing on personal accounts of the NHS over the last 75 years. Oral testimonies of encounters before and after the establishment of the NHS were embedded into an interactive artwork developed by Queen Mary University's G-HACK group. The interactive design is inspired by the floor tiling at the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum and has a clinical-craft aesthetic. Of the 125 individually made material flowers, nine are interactive . As well as the exhibition, Threads and Yarns included three presentations and three hands-on crafting workshops led by CSM staff. This project that involved senior citizens from the Euston and Camden area working with CSM’s students to share personal stories of health and well-being proved incredibly popular and fired the imagination of those involved.