Hearts Of Desire

I think it's about time I showed you my Valentines window display for the Selvedge shop in London...

In progress..











" Love Hearts. A collection of origami hearts made from love letters and documents gathered and kept as keepsakes from previous relationships. The folding of the heart and the varying sizes of letters has resulted in an interesting display of text and images. I am particularly fond of the hearts where only fractions of a sentence can be read, leaving it to the imagination to work out what was or wasn't said.

It was quite a strange time digging the letters out of my loft, a box that hasn't been touched for at least five years. I couldn't help but re-read them when I started working with them, curious to what was written, re-living particular events and memories.

It's a first that I have created a body of work without fabric or stitch being integral. Qualities that are inherent in my textile work did seem to emerge with the hearts. The repetitive process that is part of cross stitch became apparent. The intricate, precise qualities of hand stitch seemed the same as all the folding involved with the origami hearts. The ever so personal element that I always seem to put into textiles, was most definitely put into this project."

It was difficult to photograph because of the glare from the window. Once completed the wall behind was painted red and some of the paper hearts were scattered on the floor. I am still waiting to see how it finally looked..