21st Century Alchemists - September 2004
I was invited to participate in this group exhibition at Worthing Museum showing my work alongside other local artists using recycling as a key element within their practice. As the title, “21st Century Alchemists” implies, rather than focusing on the ecological agenda usually associated with recycling, in this exhibition, greater emphasis has been given to the way in which artists have recognised the unique qualities of specific, ‘used’ materials and have been able to transform them into new, desirable objects.
However, from my own perspective, by referencing clothing from the past and recreating garments using particular techniques, my intention has been to address present day attitudes towards obsolescence and waste, including views concerned with their impact on the environment and mass production. Additionally, through the process of making I have been able to reflect further, questioning emerging practices, approaches and values and the extent to which these mirror ideas of progress or deterioration.
