Mo Andrews - BA (Hons) Fine Art
“Childhood is a fantasy staged by grown-ups. A carefully crafted promise on happiness. As children grow, the promise becomes more difficult to keep.” - Klaartje Quirijns
This line encompasses the foundations of my practice; I find myself drawn in by the concept of “crafting” a childhood, the painstaking process of manufacturing stability. I mourn my childhood and its accompanying ignorance. I had a wonderful upbringing, albeit slightly unorthodox – I was brought up in a mixed heritage family; English, German and Latvian, which was a source of pride on the most part, but also made it difficult to find a sense of true belonging. Reflecting on events from my past, I feel that Quirijns was quite right in implying that aging brings with it inevitable trauma.
My practice is largely concerned with remoulding troubling experiences into something more palatable, often draped in nostalgia to soften the blow. Memories of childhood are anchoring, they prevent me from floating away with my thoughts and I employ methodologies that serve as a form of meditation; slow stitching acts to repair events that would otherwise feel irreparable, whilst the pace allows me to maintain control. Upon finishing a piece, I gain a profound sense of closure. One cannot alter the past, but can instead, repackage it into tidy objects or contain it securely within vessels.
Further to this, functionality within the pieces I create borders on essential; if one has to live with unpleasantness, they might as well serve a purpose. I embrace the space in which art meets traditional craft and aim to dismantle some of the prejudices people have towards the discipline, employing traditionally female crafts to give myself a voice as an example of ironic victory.
