North Gallery

Ansa Clacey

The Silence in between
9 to 30 September 2023
 
These works explore the silence in between the fragments and threads of our own stories.  Clacey states that what she can’t see or hear is exactly what she wants to depict.  By re-creating objects and situations, she stimulates the imagination and at the same time pushes its boundaries.  Stories with familiar images of everyday life, folklore and mysticism are fused together to blend the earthly and fantastical.
 
Drawing and sewing form her language - like a pen is to the writer, each stitch or line she creates is her alphabet.  For the works on display she used mainly pencil and pastel combined with stitching as her media. 
 
Threads, in different cultures, represent many different things: protection, repair, mending, hope and destiny.
 
“I’m very drawn to cultural customs.  Semamori is a Japanese custom which means ‘back protection’. Mothers handstitched intricate patterns on the back of their children’s kimonos to protect them from harm.  Often these embroideries have long threads hanging from them to assist good spirits to prevent children from falling.  Red thread knots would also be sewn on cloth for soldiers going to war.  These were worn as sashes under the uniforms to protect soldiers and give mothers and wives hope for their safe return.”
 
“The warmth and contemplation of drawing and stitching move me across places and vast timelines. They are the nostalgic markings of movement between past and present.  Like human emotions, strings and lines can entangle allowing viewers to imagine stories behind them”.
 
Not only are Ansa Clacey’s creations unusual, but also highly exciting and stimulating whilst relating never-ending stories.