When reading about adoption there are certain words which are repeated by adoptees because they share similar emotions. This recent work includes just a few of these words. The work comprises of nine babygrows (representing nine months of pregnancy) and hung alongside each other, similar to the way in which coats would be hung up in school. The labels I have sewn inside the collar hang on the hooks and on them I have written ‘everyday’ Christian names, but the ‘surnames’ describe how they feel.
This work was also inspired by an installation by artist Emma Middleton which was on display at the Foundling Museum last year. Her work was in response to the Foundling Hospital school uniforms and the young people’s experiences of being labelled as a ‘child in care’ at school.
The shirt labels record sentences that teachers and parents said to them during their school life.
