It is the eve of my son Moses' first birthday. I am in bed with a sprained back muscle, the only thing that has managed to slow me down after the post-show euphoria of working on the Crafting Space commission at Origin, which finished about ten days ago. There has been /still is so much to finish up and follow up from the experience – which I will detail as I progress with this blog – but the main thing to say is that the title of this blog is far more appropriate than I first realised.
The central themes of the questions asked of the public as part of their contribution to the installation at Somerset House were around the value and personal meaning of objects and the act of giving and receiving gifts. I feel like, being around this theme for a concentrated amount of time has affirmed the necessity of developing this question of the gift in other contexts and over a longer time period.
Time for sleep now, the imprint of my labour experience a year ago tonight sits inside me very clearly and how the birth and mothering experiences have affected my practice will also form a significant part of what I will be writing about here.
