Silvertown 2019 – 2021
Aluminium Cans, wire, wooden crates, twigs and twine
Installation: 152cm x 181cm x 170cm
The found object is indexical, it contains a trace of previous existence and a narrative for individuals and communities. It is through the found object that I share the stories of Newham, inspired by a tatty poster on the boundary wall of the Tate and Lyle factory in 2018.
Over the course of 2 years I have collected discarded aluminium cans from Newham, and specifically Silvertown where I live. I have cut them up, corroded them revealing pattern and texture and painstakingly hand stitched them together with wire. The work tracks geo-demographic change in the area as homeless people are displaced from their make-shift shelters by encroaching development which brings with it construction workers and ultimately city workers commuting into Canary Wharf – all of whom leave their mark on the community in the form of discarded drinks cans!
The title ‘Silvertown 2019-2021’ is not simply a description of the work – in that it is silver coloured and that it was created between 2019 and 2021, but it is grounded in place and time – the work is from Silvertown, is about Silvertown and tracks change over the time period 2019 -2021 through the found object. The dates are integral to the title.
The stitched aluminium shelter is in the shape of Newham – it is from Newham and is of Newham and whilst this is important to the integrity of the work, it is purposefully not obvious, a hidden signifier!
The work echoes the song by Mark Knopfler ‘Silvertown Blues’, which is about regeneration in the area in 2000 and whilst he creates a narrative through the music, my work creates a narrative through the found object.
Flagship House ’21
Cardboard, cotton thread, wooden crates and trolley
Installation: 76cm x 137cm x 84cm
Having been inspired by the likes of Gees Bend and Rosalie Gasgoine and finding a sense of comfort in the process of quilting, I created this quilted shelter out of cardboard that was delivered to my home – 21 Flagship House during lockdown.
The work has manifested itself in the form of a shelter – cardboard boxes and crates synonymous with the homeless, the work sized to fit inside a shop doorway – yet the work is elevated and conflicted. It is no longer simply a functional object, but something of unexpected beauty. Quilts represent comfort and love and by wrapping a homeless shelter in a cardboard quilt I feel that I am giving it and it’s occupant a metaphorical hug. The fact the work is on a trolley emphasises the temporary nature of shelters and the need to constantly move on – they are simply walls and a roof without foundations!
In terms of the title, on the one hand it claims to be a ‘Flagship’ House built in 2021 – elevating the status of the homeless shelter, the best of its kind – the show home of cardboard shelters. On the other hand it references place and time – my home, 21 Flagship House, created during the pandemic of 2021 and a self portrait of my life during that time – the boxes, the text, all tell my story.