Exile Textile 3: The Prequel
The final of three hand stitched ‘Exile Textiles’ made from things found around my parents’ house, where I unexpectedly found myself living for eighteen months during the pandemic. Mam had been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer, and it turned out to be the final year of her life. This piece was completed after my mother's death, and is mostly an amalgamation of little stitchings recording events in the years leading up to her illness.
Alison Aye
London, England
Exile Textile 3: The Prequel, Phil ShellyThe final of my 'Exile Textiles', hand stitched collage diary.
Alone in a world that's so cold, hand stitch detail., Phil ShellyA line from 'When Doves Cry' by Prince, stitched at the time of his death in 2016. Made from my husband's shirt and my skirt.
Westminster Attack, hand stitch detail., Phil ShellyAndreea Cristea, Keith Palmer, Kurt Cochran, Aysha Frade and Leslie Rhodes were killed in the Westminster Attack in 2017.
BFF Joe Lycett, Not A Lot, hand stitch detail., Phil ShellyAfter appearing on a BBC programme going behind the scenes of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (Joe Lycett: Summer Exhibitionist) Joe Lycett became my new imaginary friend. Not A Lot is a nod to Paul Daniels, stitched at the time of his death in 2016.
Grenfell Tower Notting Dale, hand stitch detail., Phil ShellyStitched in 2017, to acknowledge the horrific burning of Grenfell Tower in London, killing 72 people.