Rumpelstiltskin
2019
Rumpelstiltskin was an installation made of hundreds of meters of cloth feeding through sewing machines to make clothes. Some of the machines work by themsleves, intermitantly on sensors and timers surprising the viewers and creating a ghostly atmosphere.
The installation comments on the international textile trade and fast fashion; sewing machines in a range of sizes navigate an overwhelming sea of fabric and provoke us to think about the global impact of fast fashion.
Inspired by fairy tales and their roles as metaphors for humanity. The transformation in the Rumpelstiltskin story, of spinning straw into gold is utilized as a metaphor for change, mass production and consumerism; here gold with its associations of greed and money is locked into a never-ending exchange.
The installation included intermitant performances where Stockwell, dressed in one of the blue work shirts that feed through some of the machines sat and sewed the shirts alongside other machines sewing on their own.
Exhibitions:
Exchange Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth UK 2019.
Group exhibition and residencies with Monika, Monica Bonomo & Rhiannon Armstrong.
Publications:
Elephant Magazine The British Artist Tackling the Long Dark Shadow of Colonialism by Paul Carey-Kent 2019
