Letters of Love

These series of hand stitched letters were made for a group exhibition exploring what peace and love meant to us, especially in a world where there is so much damage and destruction. This got me thinking about words and communication and how I wanted to express my own thoughts on this subject but also the voices of others. The need to vocalize our thoughts, feelings, emotions and experiences is an intuitive human condition. But sometimes, this simplest of tasks is not possible, because we are unable to for a variety of reasons and sometimes, because we are denied the right.  And sometimes, we simply forget how to do this and why its important. Admittedly, I have always been a romantic – my collection of books includes several titles that are complications of love letters exchanged between famous writers, artists and thinkers and their livers from the 19^th & 20^th Centuries. I realized I had not composed a hand-written letter to anyone myself for many years. I wanted to address this, but primarily for private work instead of artwork. I did like the idea of mail-art and thought this would an interesting concept for this project. So, I decided to send blank cards and envelopes to friends across the UK and abroad, inviting them to share their thoughts on what love and peace meant to them, requesting also, they return the completed cards back to me. Upon receipt, my task was simply to stitch their words, to highlight, to emphasize certain phrases from what they are expressed. These works are part collaboration and a ‘dance of language’ between me and some close friends. Their words stitched and given importance, and place to be seen and heard.