The Keeper
2024
1800mm x 2100mm
reclaimed textiles (cotton workcoats, nurse’s uniform, Arena cardigan, Regeneracija floor covering, souvenir tablecloth, carpet shavings) and 22ct rose gold leaf
A dissected white cotton workcoat, the workwear of the museum textile curator or conservator, is reconfigured using papermaking processes and reclaimed textiles. The workcoat is first used to cut a pattern, then pulped, blended and reformed with fibres from a nurse’s uniform, flea market finds, souvenirs, and substandard products. Assembling the coloured swatches according to the pockets, seams, and fastenings of the workcoat, the patchworked fragments resemble architectural mosaic, with fine lines of rose gold following the unpicked garment’s folds like the brass inlay of terrazzo. Arranged as excavated artefacts, these are pinned like specimen to museum boards.
Applying handmade craft techniques to the industrially produced, the surplus to requirements, and the souvenir, The Keeper is part of a body of work that calls attention to the significance of an object’s story in museology. It considers ideas of care, of authenticity, and what is valued and what survives.
Photograph of We are collecting today for tomorrow installation view at Ethnographic Museum Zagreb 2024 by Ana Vuko courtesy CIMO, Staying with the Trouble installation view at IMMA Ireland photograph by Ros Kavanagh courtesy IMMA, detail photographs courtesy of the artist.