A new exhibition at the House of Smalls called ‘Childhood Interrupted’ prompted me to create a new piece of work called ‘Disowned’ for the Dollhouse gallery.
The exhibition takes place at The House of Smalls, 103 Henderson Row, Stockbridge, Edinburgh EH3 5BB from the 30th January – 1st March 2025.
‘Childhood (noun): The condition of being a child; the period of life before puberty. Interrupted (adjective): Broken, discontinued, or hindered‘ ~ House of Smalls.
Disowned
Life is like a jigsaw puzzle, with each piece representing our experiences, relationships and our family – but what happens when a sibling is disowned or renounced by a parent and suddenly those we hold dear are missing from our lives.
The child is no longer welcome in the family home, not invited to family events, and for the siblings there is a wider impact.
They have to be forever cautious in conversations, they omit names for fear of further tension or conflict, and contact with those estranged requires deception for fear of being discovered.
In my own family it’s happened over two generations leaving a legacy of family rifts that decades later, still exist.
Size 11.5 x 11.5cm. Hand and machine embroidered cotton cloth, Aurifil embroidery thread, vintage Sylko thread, tea dye.
This piece forms part of a series of small works created for the House of Smalls.
Update February 2025:
Thank you to Amy, curator of The House of Smalls for sharing these images of my work in the Dollhouse gallery.
