About

I am a Research Council funded PhD researcher in the University of Manchester Social Anthropology Department with an academic interest in the hidden histories preserved in textiles. In 2023 I received the Brenda M King Award for critical writing in textiles for my essay 'The Sewing Box: a portrait chronicle' from The Textile Society.

As a researcher, I have always been drawn to issues concerning everyday practices, anthropological discourses around the domestic, ‘homemaking’ and the hidden histories of ‘mundane’ objects. Woven throughout these themes is my interest in representation through alternative methodologies, examining dynamic ways of showing ethnographic fieldwork and anthropological knowledge. Combined with a personal experience and experimentation with craft making, I have worked from within the touching feeling haptic side of visual anthropology, exploring textiles as both the object of research and as a means of inquiry.

Quilts wallpaper the domestic space of the home. The material is made visible in its tessellation of bright patchwork; its design tries to catch the eye but is simultaneously overlooked as a fabric that composes everyday life. My work centres around the idea that communities of needlework are creative spaces that foster friendships, well-being and carve a group in which to gossip, laugh, cry, and dream.

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