COLUMN
my muse – for a while I thought I might make a veiI – but in the end, I wanted tiny wire flight paths to wiggle and suggest buzzing. And sinamay grapes felt appropriate, as besides attracting fruit flies they made the perfect place for the wire ends to nestle. Grapes also suggested the wasp. Its wings are mirror image budgie feathers that I’d been saving for the right occasion, and the antennae are cats’ whiskers. I’ve collected whiskers for a few years. They have that
‘rare and hard-to-spot’ quality that’s very tempting to a collector’s nature. The preciousness of these hard-to-find treasures adds to the pressure of making a piece that’s worthy of them. This saving and collecting of materials is an ongoing part of my work and takes me right back to beachcombing instincts from childhood. Once the whisker gathering began, other people have joined in and there’s something so companionable about sharing this love of collecting. It’s part of human nature. ‘Still-Life with Fauna’ was
made for ‘Unveiled – The Craft of Millinery’, the exhibition curated by Rachel Trevor-Morgan, Edwina Ibbotson and Noel Stewart.
Made especially for the event, all hats showed the different styles of the milliners. One of the things I love about millinery is its diversity of voices. A written narrative reveals itself as you read, but with a hat
it’s there to be seen in one go, so the story’s told at the pace of noticing the details and by maybe reflecting on them afterwards. Several of the other hats from the exhibition are still resonating for me. Each hat had a display of tools and materials under it – Noel Stewart’s hat was embroidered with lurex and had a needle with seven threads through the eye. Jo Miller made giant veiling out of elastic and resin (it made me think of the scale of veiling to a midge). House of Flora blocked a yellow felt wig that was such a witty way to represent hair, to name just a few.
I love the idea of hats being so thought-provoking that they go on releasing ideas inside people’s heads as well as on them. It goes towards redressing the balance in the life cycle of a hat, between the wearing part which can be so short, compared to the making part which can be so long.
Next issue: Companion planting collaboration
november 2022 | 61
Photo: Chrysoulla photography
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