THERE ARE NO WORDS, 2014
SITE SPECIFIC
INVITED - UK
This sampler was a site-specific artwork for Newark Park National Trust Property near Stroud. The house was originally a hunting lodge built for Sir Nicholas Poyntz who married Joan Berkeley and the property was bequeathed to her on his death in 1556. Dame Joan remarried a gentleman, Sir Thomas Dyer, who was described by Joan’s eldest son as ‘a monster’.
Dyer did not provide care and medicines when Joan became ill and, to add to her misery, she feared that Queen Elizabeth I was displeased with her. Dame Joan was so ill that she temporarily lost her hearing, sight and speech.
The dame’s illness was researched and it was established that she would have been inflicted with Conversion Disorder, a form of hysteria, where ailments described earlier quickly develop in response to a stressful situation. Exploration into medicines used in the 16th century reveal that Crocus, Potassium Bromide, Asafetida, Tincture Camphor and Valerian would have been prescribed for hysteria, nervous diseases and nervous excitation.
Featured in:
Textile Nature, Anne Kelly, Batsford Books, 2016
Textileart Around the World, Ellen Bakker, Textile-link
Stroud News & Journal, 25 April 2014
In-situ at Newark Park
At The Knitting & Stitching Show 2014
Measurement: 38cm x 34cm (framed sampler) and 11cm (apothecary bottles)
Process: Hand stitch
Materials: Textile, silk threads, glass bottles, tray
Exhibited in:
Selected, Stroud International Textiles, Newark Park National Trust Property, Gloucestershire (2014)
Solo Gallery, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London (2014)
Solo Gallery, The Knitting & Stitching Show, Harrogate, North Yorkshire (2014)
Anne Kelly - Textile Nature, The Knitting & Stitching Shows, London, Dublin & Harrogate (2016)