Never Ending : installation view | blankets and sculptures and sewing table © Ian Hobbs
For the exhibition “Daughters Mothers” at SCA Galleries Sydney, 2015 Curator Jacqueline Milner Alison Clouston and Joan Clouston, Judy Watson and Joyce Watson, Sue Pedley and Peggy Pedley, Toni Warburton and Enid “Soot” Warburton.
Mum and I had long imagined a project together. For “Never-ending” we stitch and darn with thread or wire, in wool or wood, story-telling of ancient family trees, of making do, and the endless nature of women’s work.
Joan’s embroidered works delve into the ancient and enduring history of the goddess and the tree of life. I’ve mended an Angophera tree, almost strangled by exotic ivy, branches “cast” by the knotted vines. I’ve darned the missing parts with wire, suggesting the comfort of nesting hollows with the warmth of rolled blankets.
Installation size variable Joan’s cross-stitch and appliquéd embroideries, her mended sheets and darned blankets, Alison’s darning and her three 1960’s electric sewing machines, ivy (Hedera helix), Australian native cypress floorboards (Callitris glaucophylla), recycled aluminum wire
Daughters Mothers group show (part of Future Feminist Archive) Sydney College of the Arts GalleriesArtists’ talks on 7/3/2015 right to left: Jacqueline Milner chair, Judy and Joyce Watson, Joan and Alison Clouston, Peg Pedley, Toni Warburton and Sue Pedley discuss their works and the life-long creative partnerships that underpin their contemporary practice. Photos Chris Ward