Monday, 8 November 2010

Preserving memories

 Looking at different ways of preserving memories, our group discussed the possibilities of dyeing fabric using some of the  chemical elements of a deceased loved one. I spoke to a pharmacologist friend who informed me that the four main elements of a human are water, nitrogen, carbon and fat. Of these four, carbon is the only one that could be used as a dye , in the form of cremated ashes. There are many other elements which exist largely as trace and therefore would be almost impossible to extract unless you were able to work with a scientist in a  laboratory. 

 What other ways of using fabric could we do to preserve memories?

It has long been a tradition in quilt making to incorporate items of clothing and even hair from a person, to make a kind of memorial or a recording of history.

The quilt here also incorporates human hair into  a portrait of the 'loved one' using  a needle felting technique. It is very difficult to needle felt with hair due to it's springy nature, so I decided to place the hair in a transparent pocket.
The quilt invokes memories of a person for the bereaved more powerfully than a simple urn of ashes because of the 'triggers' used such as favourite items of clothing, hair or the story told of their life in the quilt. The memorial quilt is a piece of art as well as a reminder the bereaved.  


HAIR

 From the work on the quilt, we started looking at other ways to use hair.

As a humourous idea, ew thought of


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