Tatters

h 114 x w 145 cm (45” x 57”)
Wool, linen, cotton, metallic
Tapestry weaving with layers

My great-great-great-grandmother, Jane Wallace, died in the poorhouse in Edinburgh in 1866. She would have owned almost nothing besides the clothes on her back. Even these would have been in shreds, worn and stained by previous owners. The striped fragments represent the possible shaming uniform of the poorhouse or the mattress ticking of her bed. The holes in the background tapestry and its faded appearance echo wounds, whether physical and emotional. The golden piece represents a scrap of hope.