I am a visual artist, researcher and filmmaker based in the UK. I explore and uncover stories of making, craftspeople and their experiences. At the heart of my practice is an interest in social dimensions of craft and a methodology that uses textile processes to develop thinking. I have an interdisciplinary background and am interested in continuing to work in the space between creative practice and academic research.
In 2005 I did a BA in Embroidery at Manchester Metropolitan University, followed by an apprenticeship in traditional bookbinding. I developed a creative practice around themes of storytelling, histories of craft and craftspeople, and conceptual forms of measurement, exploring my apprenticeship role in the context of the gendered and political history of bookbinding. I have exhibited internationally, and taught textiles and drawing at Foundation and degree level, as well as teaching bookbinding and book arts workshops in universities, schools and galleries.
In 2012 a chance discussion while travelling in Madagascar led me to collaborate with craftswomen in the village of Sainte Luce to start an embroidery project which was developed alongside an NGO. This experience brought up many questions about the relationship between craft and development, and I returned to the UK to do an MRes in International Development in 2016. More questions emerged and I discovered a fascination with social research methodology. I returned to Madagascar to conduct my PhD research with the community in Sainte Luce, exploring craftspeople’s experiences of transitions of making. During this research I began using filmmaking as a research tool. I completed my PhD at the University of Bath in 2022. Since then, I have been on a maternity break and have relocated to the highlands of Scotland. I am currently working on a book based on my PhD findings.
