Sculptures

Aunt Marie

This sculpture is an

homage to Aunt Marie who

was the head machinist in

the family’s clothing factory

from the 1940’s onwards.

She was a powerhouse of energy

and knowledge. It incorporates some

of the original cottons used at the

factory, illustrating my belief that

“everything is relative”.

Size: Height 174cm Length

53cm Width 64cm

Medium: wood, paint, beads, cotton,

cotton reels, buttons, plastic, steel, glass,

nails, handmade wooden dummy;

stitched and crocheted

Year: 2010

Aunt Marie

Aunt Mary

Aunt Mary was a colourful, crazy and stylish party

girl who enjoyed her dancing and scotch.

She was an incredible seamstress who could

make anything out of anything, mending and

recycling years before it became fashionable.

My dummy knitwit sculpture is made from a

1930’s table Aunt Mary gave me many years

ago. I had painstakingly restored the table,

then my children jumped on it and broke it!

What to do!

As the table had beautiful memories,

I decided it would form the basis of the dummy.

The tabletop forms the base surrounded by old

measuring tapes, and the legs form the hips.

They have been embellished with old painted

lace, hair rollers, beads, wire and buttons.

The mending cottons were given to me by

Aunt Mary years ago. They have now been

used to form the skirt of my dummy.

An incredible amount of drilling took place for the

knitting needles to be positioned correctly

onto the upper torso and skirt. A perfume

atomiser from the 1960’s given to me by my

mother-in-law, Joy, takes the place of the

traditional knob at the top of a wooden dummy.

Aunt Mary would have appreciated the table

top being used in this sculpture as I know she

would have danced on many a tabletop

in her day.

Size: Height 178cm Length 68cm Width 63cm

Medium: wood, paint, beads, wire, buttons,

knitting needles and paraphernalia, perfume

bottle/atomiser and zips and mending cotton.

Year: 2010

Aunt Mary

Aunt Nancy

Aunt

Nancy

I visited Paris for the first time when I was 21 and have

never forgotten my visit to the George Pompidou

Centre, where I saw “The Surrealist Table” by Alberto

Giacometti. It was an amazing piece of sculpture!

In my own work, I have made

reference to this sculpture by

using a 1950’s wooden

ironing board to represent

the table. This ironing

board was given to

me by my friend

Patti’s mother who was throwing it out on

the street for the council clean up.

This work reminds me of my aunt Nancy who was always

attached to the presser in the family’s clothing factory.

It is funny how memories come back to you when

you are significantly older. She was a beautiful and

generous aunt who encouraged my sharing at table of

good food and conversation.

Hair-rollers, beads, wire and bric a brac form the face.

I have crocheted the veil out of multi-coloured cotton

and have used rollers and beads to form the veil.

The 1950’s leather glove with hair-rollers represents the

sculptural hand. The ironing board cover is made up of

knitting needles, crocheted cotton, beads, wire and

knitting paraphernalia.

Size: Height 132cm Length 138cm Width 55cm

Medium: wood, wire, nail, cotton, china, hair-rollers,

beads, leather glove, plastic knitting needles and

sewing paraphernalia.

Year: 2010

Aunt Phil

As a child, my aunt Phil would frequently take me to

Cahills for waffles and David Jones in Sydney on

spending sprees – especially for shoes and bags.

She was obsessed with beautiful accessories and

slightly eccentric.

She was also an incredible seamstress , her intricate

handwork was exquisite. She made me the most

fashionable clothes when I was young and when I

was much older she made my own designs.

For a child who was obsessed with all things fashion

and art it was a dream childhood.

This knitwit’s bag sculpture is a homage to my aunt

Phil.

The sculpture’s foundation is an old pot plant holder

and the handmade wooden bags are ornamented

with knitting needles and every manner of old

jewellery and beads that have a significant memory

for me. All of the jewellery has been given to me.

The tiny Japanese faces on each bag were given to

me by my Aunt Yezme .

So you can see - the aunt tradition lives on.

Size: Height 193cm Length 44cm Width 35cm

Medium: wood, knitting needles, jewellery, cotton

reel, paint, beads, buttons, plastic

Year: 2010

Aunt Phil