As an artist with the Grief Series, I have worked on several parts of the project. I have created appliqued carpet for the Rage Receptacle and satin hearts for the Unfair. The most recent commission was Journey with Absent Friends in 2018 where I created a series of hand embroidered textile maps, digitally embroidered drawings and an installation, sharing the memories of our participants using fabric and thread.
Journey with Absent Friends is an installation for the inside of a caravan, with artworks hidden in every cupboard, drawer, nook and cranny with stories from Ellie Harrison and participants, about people we have loved and lost. Members of the public were invited to explore and then add their own memories to the audio archive and embroidered maps.
In 2018, Journey with Absent Friends went on a pilgrimage asking the questions where do our memories of the dead live? In sacred spaces like gravestones, or aisle 22 of Tesco? On someone’s Facebook page or Twitter feed?
Travelling between sites of personal remembrance, Ellie stopped at arts centres, museums, beer gardens and even the occasional service station. The journey was punctuated with meal events combining beautiful design, great food and immersive performance plus the chance to remember someone you have lost.
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