Created during the multiple Covid lockdowns for (RE)VIEW, a collaborative exhibition supported by Creative Accelerator Blackburn, Connected depicts a 1×1.5m thumb print that has been meticulously hand sewn into calico cotton. Within the individual lines of the thumb print, an accurate scaled down contour follows the canal path from Blackburn to Leeds along the Leeds and Liverpool canal.

Having previously used thread in Control, 2018, revisiting the material enabled conversations of conscious and subconscious control within a period of panic and uncertainty.

“Growing up in Blackburn, I could see the canal from my bedroom window, the murky water populated with ducks, geese and the odd swan. The canal brings back memories of summer bike rides and the many constructions built to reclaim lost footballs! And now during times of Covid it brings me calmness and clarity as I walk along the canal path when experiencing depression and isolation.”

(The materials used for Connected were purchased and shipped from a haberdashery within the Blackburn locale as a homage to the town’s cotton mill heritage.)