wearables/ textile art/ garments
Photo Credit: Kelcie Bryant-Duguid
2020 seed stitch contemporary textile award, australian design centre, darlinghurst NSW
2020-2021 tamworth regional gallery, tamworth NSW (touring) 2022 'story place' website - digital collection of objects, records and artworks cared for by museums, galleries and Aboriginal cultural centres from regional New South Wales, MGNSW
This work has been acquired by Tamworth Regional Art Gallery, NSW. |
essential worker
cereal bag plastic, cotton tape, sewing thread, disposable gloves, wire bread tie, elastic free machine stitch artist statement This work has been made in response to the Covid19 pandemic. When listening to the local and international news I was forced to ask: what is the cost of work and that of a human life? The term 'essential worker' was coined in the media and by politicians. It felt akin to how 'collateral damage' has been used. I found it quite disturbing and I wanted to create a work that expressed my discomfort. I hope this work is a catalyst for discussion and reflection on the sacrifice made by so many who simply did their job at this time irrespective of the inherent personal risk. The NSW Government first advised healthcare workers to wear PPE (personal protective equipment) on 24 July 2020. The first cases of Covid19 recorded in Australia were on 25 January 2020 (one case in Victoria and three cases in NSW). The casualisation and deregulation of workplaces has led to vulnerable communities (predominantly low socio-economic, migrant, and women), experiencing increased risk of exposure to Covid19. Infection rates in low paid health and services populations around the world are disproportionately represented. The risk for workers who have little job security and yet are called upon at significantly greater rates to risk their family's health for the greater good is a stark reminder of the gaping inherent inequities within our society. The work itself is an attempt to recreate a PPE suit, created using domestic materials that can be found in any home; cereal bag plastic, sewing thread, cotton tape, elastic, wire bread tie, disposable gloves. The suit itself conveys a sense of clinical distance which is juxtaposed by a sense of cautionary intimacy. Covered in scrawled text, which has been free motion sewn over the entirety of the suits surface are the various phrases including 'save lives stay at home' and 'wear a mask', these messages which have been reiterated by both the government and throughout communities in the hope of reducing the spread of the virus. The sale price of $893.20 is calculated at the standard 40hr weekly wage of an Aged Care Worker in Australia. Update - On February 2022 at Senate Estimates for the Federal Government, the Minister for Aged Care was questioned over the lack of PPE, rapid antigen testing for staff and residents living and working in aged care with reference to the Omicron variant (recorded in Australia on 13 December 2021) and to date has lead to the death of at least 499 aged care residents in the month of January 2022 alone. (This figure is reported by the Aged Care Sector). |