I have always enjoyed experimenting with techniques and materials and combining them in different ways. In the past I have worked on larger scale installations using drawer liners, bottle tops and teabags but I feel the time has come for me to focus more on texture and detail, partly as a response to my workspace and storage, and to use less materials – I’m also looking at ways to make my practice more efficient by using up scraps of fabric and thread. I generally use low impact processes.
Background
The research for A Visible THREAD gave me the opportunity to continue a train of thought and experimentation that began whilst in collaboration with Gill Bliss, Mud and Thread (Merron 2022). We had been combining clay and textiles together and looking for sustainable solutions with materials. As a ceramicist, Gill was working with locally foraged clay. During the pandemic, I was looking at kitchen waste as everywhere closed down, and we all looked to our immediate surroundings for inspiration and materials to work with. So it’s not really surprising that I looked at tea bags. I was curious to see how strong the bag material was and what it’s made from (a mix of natural plant fibres) and how I could stitch them together to create a fabric. As well as patching them, I learnt how to make cordage by following a bush craft video. Armed with an assortment of samples we worked together on producing vessels combining clay and these teabag textiles.
Historic textile vessels
I was curious to look at historic vessels made of materials other than clay, such as leather and wool. In the past, these materials have been used to make costrels and pilgrims’ flasks (pilgrims flasks were connected to the early years of Christianity). Vessels were used for personally transporting water and sacred oils whilst migrating to seek safety and sanctuary, dating back to, at least, the seventh century, for example the pilgrim flask of St Sergios (Treasures of Heaven). I wanted to explore further: their use, and how they were made and decorated. In our current political landscape migration is a constant topic of discussion, so it felt relevant to dig a bit deeper and this informed my approach to making the costrels. Now, in the era of mass manufacturing we can easily carry a plastic or metal bottle of water with us, without giving much thought to previous generations for whom carrying clean water was so much more difficult.
Research
Part of the explorative process is experimenting with different techniques and materials – I rejected so many and worked into others until I got close to the effects I was aiming for. I find it similar to making jam – you put in all the ingredients and then let it boil and simmer until it has reduced to a fine flavour and consistency, with all the excess simmered away. My decisions what to leave in and what to take out, results in the final piece of work.
I was looking locally for a starting point and, living in Somerset, a land of myth and legend, offered a full palette of rituals and symbolism to draw on. I wanted the vessels to tell a story of balance, history, colour and texture while exploring the spiritual and mischievous spirits embedded in myths. To give me a focal point, I used the four main elements; earth, water, air and fire, and played around with ways to represent them. Following a trip to Tate Britain and a ceramic exhibition my antenna picked up on Pre-Raphaelite paintings but seeing new relevance in them, connected with my thought process. I’ve always loved the Pre-Raphaelites but now I was drawn into the exquisite detail in The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse (Tate a) taking me into another world giving me inspiration for water. And George Frederic Watts Hope (or Despair) (Tate b) depending on whether you are ‘a glass half full or half empty’ – this I found evocative of how life is today, how optimism and pessimism can shape our day and the balance between how we view this painting is from our inner self.
I was also inspired by Giuseppe Penone’s Breath 5 (Tate c), influenced by the Greek myth of Prometheus shaping a man out of clay and Athena breathing life into the figure. I also love the explanation of his work on the Giuseppe Penone website (Giuseppe Penone 2024). The piece is imposing and large, and has a very tactile surface and I love the story behind it, evoking imagery from myths and legends. As a shape filled with breath, to me it had the potential to be filled with fluid.
Eileen Agar’s Marine Object (Tate d), a broken Greek amphora adorned with found objects reminded me of ancient civilizations lost to the world under the sea and the amphoras I saw in the Archaeological Museum of Lefkada, encrusted with corals. You can only be moved by the history and memories held in these objects.
A Trio of Vessels
I interpreted my thoughts and ideas into three vessels or a ‘trio of costrels’. The resulting vessels are quite small and appearing fairly insignificant, yet it has taken so many processes and materials from around the world to complete.
From my collection of found objects I realised I had all sorts of natural treasures to add detail to each vessel. I have jars of random bits turfed out of a jackdaws nest, beads from broken necklaces, pebbles, shells, feathers, gathered on days out and holidays, snapshots of adventures and explorations around the world. Some of these were relevant to the story I wanted to convey, the portrayal of a nomadic lifestyle and a connection with the natural world.
Each of the three vessels represent two of the elements
Earth and Water
I started with my father’s silk maps from his army days. You can clearly see how borders and names have changed and been reclaimed over time. Stories of displacement, shifting politics and the world in constant flux are evident. I had some of these beautiful maps reproduced onto linen to use as the main piece. On the wool felt base, I integrated commonly found cave painting symbols, fan shapes, ferns and spirals. Hanging from the base is a hag stone to ward off evil spirits, found on Portland Bill last summer, and an old bovine tooth dug up from our garden years ago. The neck is made from crocosmia cordage. Crocosmia is a native plant to the grasslands of Africa and where I was born. The earliest known cordage dates back to neanderthal times, found in the Rhone Valley and I feel a connection when making it, knowing that people were plying fibres in communities 50,000 years ago.
The section of strip lynchets; marks on the landscape, date back to the Iron Age and are evidence of ancient field systems in the British Isles. So it felt appropriate to use the imprint of a rusty tool on silk, pleating it up to form the strip lynchets. And so the first shape for the first vessel was formed. I hand stitched ammonites to overlap the fabrics. Along with this hand stitching I also meandered with a fractal pattern to represent mycelium growth and branching trees. I was hooked on the idea of integrating hidden messages and charms into each costrel to connect to a spiritual world and so added a hag stone to the base and filled it with water from the White Spring of Glastonbury.
The rhythm of hand stitch and moments lost in repetitive machine embroidery were moments of quiet reflection.
‘Sit, be still, and listen’ – Rumi
Water and Air
Inspiration came from closer to home. I wasn’t entirely sure how to represent air but recalled the starling murmurations on the Somerset Levels that occur every winter at dawn and dusk. The swirling movement and rustle of wings as they fly overhead in a huge flock is spectacular. The iconic Glastonbury Tor had to be included and I incorporated isobars on a very fine net as a way of mapping the atmospheric pressure, mixing a natural phenomenon with meteorology.
The necklace of tiny fragile shells were collected on a trip to Florida back in the eighties. The suspended shells are worn paper thin by the sea.
I pleated up sandy coloured linen to mimic the ripple of sand when the tide had gone out and thought back to a time when the Isle of Avalon was truly an island. Around the base I stitched willow stems, a reference to the willow beds of the Levels and how much willow loves to be by water.
Fire and Earth
This was the most difficult to interpret. Again some research revealed that traces of wood ash have been found showing that 2 million years ago, Homo erectus was able to migrate across continents with warmth, protection and fuel.
My initial trials were far too representative and felt clumsy. I tried burning and scorching fabrics, stitching flames, photographing fire pits and looking at King Alfred’s cakes – fungi used as kindling. I looked to volcano eruptions for inspiration and Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire, is destructive but also restorative. Of course there are many gods of fire and the sun in Greek and Roman mythology too.
This beautiful painting A Fisher Girls Light (Tate e) caught my eye as it illustrates how light is used on a journey, in this case the flame in a lantern.
Eventually, with strips of embellished scrap fabric and threads I created a chaotic base, layered with charcoal coloured coarse cotton to suggest the flow and cooling of lava strata. Shiny prickly heat bugle beads in reds and oranges are glowing embers. Held by the hand-macraméd net at the base are some pumice stones from Timanfaya.
And now, they are presented together as a group of three, a prime number , the magic of three. They are three sided, no face or back. If you get a chance to see them on display, take a look and see if you can find all the hidden messages and objects there.
The final pieces are intended to be hung to be viewed from all angles.
Joy Merron
Select References
Giuseppe Penone (2024) Breaths Available at: https://giuseppepenone.com/en/words/breaths (Accessed 1 October 2024)
Merron, J. (2022) Collaboration Evaluation Available at: https://seamcollective.org/2022/12/21/collaboration-evaluation/ (Accessed 1 October 2024)
Tate (a) The Lady of Shalott 1888, John William Waterhouse Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/waterhouse-the-lady-of-shalott-n01543 (Accessed 1 October 2024)
Tate (b) Hope 1886, George Frederic Watts and assistants Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/watts-hope-n01640 (Accessed 1 October 2024)
Tate (c) Breath 5 1978, Giuseppe Penone Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/penone-breath-5-t03420 (Accessed 1 October 2024)
Tate (d) Marine Object 1939, Eileen Agar Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/agar-marine-object-t05818 (Accessed 1 October 2024)
Tate (e) A Fisher Girl’s Light (A Pilgrim of Volendam returning from Kevelaer) 1899, Marianne Stokes Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/stokes-a-fisher-girls-light-a-pilgrim-of-volendam-returning-from-kevelaer-t15909 (Accessed 1 October 2024)
Treasures of Heaven Relics & Reliquaries: Pilgrim Flask of St. Sergios Available at: https://projects.mcah.columbia.edu/treasuresofheaven/relics/Pilgrim-Flask-of-St-Sergios.php (Accessed 1 October 2024)
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