Stigma

This collection consists of several woven pieces which explore the themes of stigma and mental Illness. Stigma around serious mental health conditions still exists in the everyday, and this deeply impacts the people living with them. I have chosen to address this in my work in order to highlight and hopefully educate those in society who might unintentionally be perpetuating it. 
Using the kaleidoscopic shapes that can be created with the overshot weaving technique and a bold colour palette, I have created a psychedelic and slightly hallucinatory pattern. This pattern and the bold colours used are a metaphor for the mind of a person who is experiencing mental illness.
The starting point for me is always pattern, and then I begin to look at the breakdown of the pattern and experiment with ways in which I can create a narrative. 
The individual pieces are abstract and therefore, I have explained what I am wanting to portray with each image. The collection is designed as craftivism. Betsy Greer is known for coining the term ‘Craftivism’ and defines it as “A way at looking at life where voicing opinions through creativity makes your voice stronger, your compassion deeper and your quest for justice more infinite.” (Greer in Freeman, 2020)