hbition 58: Esther Wilson – Quilt flag
Quilts are connected to Women’s work. A quilt speaks of domestic labour, of clothing and comforting and providing and nourishing children. They are a creative output with a practical application. A pieced quilt can be a record of a family’s life and a woman’s emotions. Quilts hold history and track lives. They are a family record held in your hands; a connection passed down through cloth.
Making this piece I thought of the children wrapped in white shrouds, cradled by their mothers during the genocide in Gaza. I thought of the loss of stitched history, the devastation of domestic textiles. Children’s bedding destroyed, soft toys disfigured and curtains turned ashen grey.
Red is a colour used extensively in Palestinian Tatreez. Red is a colour of danger, bravery and passion. Pink is a colour of sensitivity, of femininty, of childhood.
The land of the free? Are our mothers free? Are we free within a world that allows genocide?
Esther is a London based artist and dressmaker. She trained in Embroidery at the Royal School of Needlework (2017) She makes work, both wearable and unwearable, looking at grief, motherhood and domesticity.