Forgotten Stories

Almost accidentally I started to collect auction found photographs of people from the past, who have nurtured and interacted with sheep. Some of these images relate to the practical aspects of sheep farming or sheep showing, whilst others are unexpected encounters, which can be playful and humorous. A common theme is the feeding of pet lambs, particularly by women or children. These images have a charm and a nostalgia of a time, which is moving out of memory. As a consequence, I started to make small hand-stitched pieces, which combine hand woven fragments and recycled cloth with prints from these photographs.

I wanted to preserve the memory of these forgotten people who loved their sheep and also celebrate an increasingly vulnerable rural landscape, which has changed so rapidly in recent times.

I believe that by bringing to light the hidden stories of our human connection with sheep, we are reconnecting to rural traditions, the land and the origins of wool. The fragments of cloth, which are held together with simple stitching also reference the domestic traditions of preserving humble materials through sewing and mending.