I participated in a group show called Germ as part of SALA last year. The show was organised by Finley Burns and held at Some Where House. Each artist in the show drew inspiration from another artist in the show in a chain (chains popping up again!).

I drew my inspiration for this piece from the ceramicist Em Frank.

Artwork blurb:

Soft plastic waste packaging is cut into long strips and twisted into two-ply rope by the artist. This cord is then knitted with second-hand acrylic yarn into a long, sleeveless shift dress. The ancient practice of twisting two ply cord transforms this modern waste material into a strong, sparkling thread. The work embodies an anxious longing to transform the useless waste that saturates our lives into something useful and precious.

I was inspired by Frankie's use of found objects and experimental finishes in their ceramics to create a work that incorporated a junk material, modified to be unrecognisable. The acts of working clay and twisting rope feel old and essential in the same way. I found it very satisfying to discover that resonance in our very different practices.

Creating the gown was a delicate and time consuming process. First I used a scalpel to slice the bread bags into thin strips, then I spent many hours twisting the strips into two-ply cord by hand.

Once I had enough cord, I started experimenting with how to turn it into a garment. I experimented with crochet and knitting using various guages of hooks and needles until I settled on knitting. Crochet looked too busy, I wanted the structure of the weave to be as simple as possible so that the colours and detail in the cord weren’t totally lost.

I really, really wanted to have enough cord to make the whole dress, but unfortunately didn’t have enough time. To finish the dress I used thrifted crochet cord in a pale green.

After the show closed we did a ittle photo shoot of the dress in Fin’s back yard. Photos by Erin Patterson and myself, model Finley Burns, fish mask by Finley Burns.