Smith-Genever

Cardiff based artist and therapist Katie Smith and I worked together from 2015 – 2019 predominantly using stitch. We developed process-led, co-produced, artworks in response to working with communities. We promoted stitch as an act of creative meaning making and resistance against the chaos of life; we used sewing as a non- threatening way to create safe spaces for people to explore tricky stuff and to ‘power up.’ 

Our belief was that art is a serious business and that alongside the creation of work that is authentic, powerful and relevant it can provide routes and opportunities for personal growth and the building of resilience.

Of the many commissions undertaken we were invited to be of the 100 women artists commissioned to mark 100 years since the first women were allowed to vote in the UK. We created two banners that formed part of the mass artwork produced by Artichoke, commissioned by 14-18 NOW and delivered in partnership with Metal Culture Peterborough. The banners contributed to Procession – which took place in June 2018, when tens of thousands of women, wearing scarves of green, white, and violet, took to the streets of the UK’s capitol cities to celebrate women’s suffrage. We worked with women across the city of Peterborough, both in person and remotely, to create two banners. Contributions were made by Peterborough Women’s Institute, Soroptimist International, Iraq Academy, HMP Peterborough, Coffee Morning Sisters, Embroiderers Guild, and members of the public.

As part of our work we developed a long term ACE funded project No one’s coming to save you which supported research, the production of stitch and text work and the engagement of new audiences. Based at Ash Villa, an acute unit for young people in Lincolnshire, we worked with inpatients, staff and art therapist Katie Brown, exploring notions of resilience. Exhibitions of the results were held at Ash Villa, York Teaching Hospitals and a paper was presented at The Textile and Place conference at MMU-School of Art.