As long as you’re dancing, you can
break the rules.
Sometimes breaking the rules is just
extending the rules.
Sometimes there are no rules.
-Mary Oliver
This installation work is informed by lifelong experience as a competitive dancer and the ongoing growth and change in my relationship with dance. Using textile methods which best translate the inherent energy of dance, I aim to capture the fluidity of movement in physical form. In what was once a rigid practice, newfound appreciation and freedom of expression have been discovered by reinterpretation through material and play.
Textile processes such as embroidery and the repetitive motion of the stitching provide a connection to the costumes handmade by my mother and those that came before. Every stitch and fibre of yarn aids the construction of identity within this work, taking shape both from the movement of my own body, and from the garments the body is adorned in. I use 100% superwash merino wool that I have dyed by hand, further highlighting the tactile approach.
This work also weaves the tale of an internal battle; reflecting the joy I have found in the freedom of movement while simultaneously being weighed down. Encumbered by frustration and restlessness, the desire to keep moving, to emerge from the confines of expectation and the limits of my own mind.
