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Various sizes
Dyed, patched, machine and hand stitched linen and cotton
Poems to the Sea explores the notions of memorial and inheritance. The work stems from a collection of linens that were requisitioned during World War Two from German ships before they were sunk by the artists' grandfather. The pieces serve as a memorial to her own family as well as to the boats that were sent to the bottom of the sea once all useful or valued objects on board had been salvaged. The stained and worn linens have been painstakingly patched and repaired to create a series of layers where the mending stitches are as relevant as the embroidered texts and maps that adorn them. The unknown previous owners of the cloth, many of whom became prisoners of war or whose fate was sealed along with their ships, are a subtext throughout the work.