Towards the beginning of Lockdown, I lost my grandfather to Coronavirus. The work I have produced examines how people have been dealing with grief during quarantine and a time of social distancing. These restrictions on physical connection have forced us to explore new ways of connecting with loved ones.
For this project, I combine photography, specifically the Cyanotype photographic process with cross stitch to produce my final piece. The work is made up of five smaller components which loosely reflect the five stages of grief and the five steps of a home Covid-19 test kit.
The images and text used in this piece are influenced by a social media call out, where participants responded with the physical and emotional ways they have been grieving and dealing with grief, whilst being apart from their families. The use of multiple mediums not only is an exploration of physical connection through their tactile nature, but is a reflection of the skills that have connected me to creatives and creative groups within the city of Cardiff.
Through the physical actions needed to create these pieces, I reconnect with these groups and also my mother, as cross stitch was a skill she taught me when I was young. Through this work I hope to share a small portion of how many of us are dealing with grief and to reflect a small portion of the artistic skills that make up our creative Cardiff.
Audio description read by Molly Caenwyn:
Find out more about Molly and the other Our Creative Cardiff 2020 creatives here.
