Patchwork Man

The patchwork figure series was a journey into the darker aspects of self-portraiture using a linked glass fabric or armour as a container for the body. The covering looks strong but is visually light and delicate. The patch-working technique allows a moulded form to be assembled from small off-cuts in a similar way to patchwork blankets that are lovingly stitched together by grandmothers for the cradles of their new grandchildren. There is a sense of death or suspended animation but also re-birth from the feeling of protection offered by this ‘Mummy like’ cocoon. The Green man was a development on from the clear /white figures where a sense of landscape and fertility was added by the vibrant patchwork of greens.