'MARCH' 2019. GROUP EXHIBITION AT BRENTWOOD ROAD GALLERY TO COINCIDE WITH INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY.
The gift of an unfinished discarded quilt found in an attic in a small terraced cottage in Chislehurst, dating from the 1890’s has fascinated Ellie over the past few years.
Each scrap of fabric tells a story of a dress or discarded garment from a working class family, whilst the templates, comprising of fragments of letters, postmarked envelopes, calendars, invitation cards and traders advertisements, point to a woman of higher standing and reveal tantalising details about the life of a middle class woman in Chislehurst at the end of the 19th century.
Research enriches practical enquiry and through tracing lines and marks and responding to the graphics and handwriting of the templates a connection to a woman and a particular place is established, whilst the maker of the patchwork cover remains an as yet unsolved mystery.
As this project evolves and material evidence is interrogated by local historians, themes of gender and class are revealed and will in time be pieced together like the patchwork itself.