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Vanessa’s provocation, intentionally open and subject to personal interpretation, has introduced her to countless amazing women, each exhausted with the legacy of domesticity that they struggle to shake off. Whilst conversations often begin around cleaning, this is not the focus, rather it is a route to discussing women’s lived experiences and expectations of care, the mental load, and the sharing (or not) of housework and other domestic responsibilities. The experience of embroidering a duster for the exhibition also addresses the benefits of stitching for health and wellbeing and the solidarity of group participation and common experience.
Dusters were selected for embroidery and display as a metaphor for domesticity because they are mundane (like most domestic tasks), yet visually appealing in their brilliant bright yellow. This project asks how hidden and silenced female domestic experiences can be voiced through collective craft practice, and explores how the duster, which signifies domesticity through our cultural knowledge of its purpose as a cleaning cloth, can act as a catalyst for change through collaborative and collective making.
Each duster is unique and hand stitched. It also holds a story. They are stories of celebration, frustration, and family. They include memories of mothers and grandmothers, tales of violence and homelessness, perspectives on both privilege and hardship, and reminders of the comfort of domesticity, each shared through the power of storytelling, stitching and activism.
This project addresses the conundrum of domesticity, celebrating its central role in all of our lives whilst challenging the gendered bias that still leaves more women than men with the chores.
For more information please visit:
Instagram: @domesticdusters
Website: https://domesticdusters.wordpress.com
Vanessa’s provocation, intentionally open and subject to personal interpretation, has introduced her to countless amazing women, each exhausted with the legacy of domesticity that they struggle to shake off. Whilst conversations often begin around cleaning, this is not the focus, rather it is a route to discussing women’s lived experiences and expectations of care, the mental load, and the sharing (or not) of housework and other domestic responsibilities. The experience of embroidering a duster for the exhibition also addresses the benefits of stitching for health and wellbeing and the solidarity of group participation and common experience.
Dusters were selected for embroidery and display as a metaphor for domesticity because they are mundane (like most domestic tasks), yet visually appealing in their brilliant bright yellow. This project asks how hidden and silenced female domestic experiences can be voiced through collective craft practice, and explores how the duster, which signifies domesticity through our cultural knowledge of its purpose as a cleaning cloth, can act as a catalyst for change through collaborative and collective making.
Each duster is unique and hand stitched. It also holds a story. They are stories of celebration, frustration, and family. They include memories of mothers and grandmothers, tales of violence and homelessness, perspectives on both privilege and hardship, and reminders of the comfort of domesticity, each shared through the power of storytelling, stitching and activism.
This project addresses the conundrum of domesticity, celebrating its central role in all of our lives whilst challenging the gendered bias that still leaves more women than men with the chores.
For more information please visit:
Instagram: @domesticdusters
Website: https://domesticdusters.wordpress.com
