Peaces of Us
The latest installation, Peaces of Us, extends my ongoing exploration of transformation through paper, collage and material reuse. Created from collage remnants accumulated over more than thirty years of studio practice, the work reflects my continuing interest in deconstruction, reconstruction and the creative potential of materials that might otherwise be discarded.
The daily news is filled with stories of war, genocide and climate crisis. Like many people, I often find myself wondering what I can possibly do in the face of such overwhelming events.
In the evenings, I retreat to my studio in search of something quiet and restorative. There, shelves of old shoeboxes hold thousands of fragments of paper left behind from paintings made over the past thirty-five years – some from my own studio practice, others begun with participants through collaborative workshops. Each fragment feels too precious to throw away.
Sitting with these colourful remnants, alongside thread, wire, pins and needles, I slowly begin joining them together into long, continuous strands. The process is gentle, repetitive and meditative. It has become a quiet act of resistance – an act of care in a world that too often feels defined by destruction and loss.
Each paper fragment comes to represent an individual life; each strand, a community. Together they form Peaces of Us – an evolving installation that honours those affected by conflict, displacement and environmental crisis, while quietly affirming the possibility of repair, resilience and hope.
Every shoebox still contains thousands of offcuts, torn edges and paper fragments accumulated over decades of making. To me they are not leftovers, but treasured remnants – each one unique in its colour, texture, shape and history, waiting for the possibility of a new beginning.
