More miniature babies arrived to crochet blankets for, to fill the spaces where chocolates would, inside the triangular chocolate box.
The process of making gives me time to think and evaluate. At the moment I quite a few ideas on my adoption theme and several pieces of work started and I keep working across them a little at a time.
I have been reading about Steve Hydes who in 1986 was nicknamed Gary Gatwick because he had been found abandoned at the airport. He has no documentation or knowledge of his origins and is still searching for his family. What particularly interested me was the items found with him at the time. He was wearing 2 babygrows, one blue, one yellow and he was wrapped in a blue and white checked blanket.
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/apr/09/gatwick-baby-abandoned-1986
I have also been reseraching the ‘tokens’ left behind by mothers who left their babies and children in the care of the Foundling Hospital in London. Here are a few examples which are now in the Foundling Museum:
http://www.culture24.org.uk/search%20results?q=fate%2C+hope+and+charity+tokens+left+by
I have also been looking at my birth certificates. The first one was issued when I was born and the second one when I was adopted. I made copies of them, covered vital information and then shredded them. I decided to randomly glue the strips together and then used one of the ‘negative’ cut-out puzzle pieces I made for ‘The Ties that Bind’ to frame the striped surface.
This work signifies the dual identity of the person on the birth certificate and questions the person’s identity.
