When the Arts & MInds exhibition came around again I wasn’t sure how to contribute – I wanted to include something I had made – but I also wanted the piece to reflect my own mental health journey.
In the past this had been textile objects I’d created which helped settle my mind.
I had looked at what was around me and realised an entirely intuitive piece that I had been working on was in a position to be part of my response – but I needed it to be more than that – so then I realised I needed to bring another element into the work.
My safe place
is Gledhow Valley Woods – it has been a constant in the treatment I’ve been taking to manage my mental health – to address some of the impacts of ageing and not looking after myself so much when I was younger. These days I have a healthier attitude to my work and a better life balance but the damage was done and I need to look after myself much more to stay balanced.
The safe place helped me in so many ways:
- It allows me to be present
- It allows me to show gratitude
- It allows me to calm my mind
- The noises of the area are truly beautiful
- I was in the woods when I the miracles of water became evident to me
My poncho.
I was away* celebrating my 50th birthday and I’d just completed a workshop learning how to crochet granny squares. I made a handful (I think it was 8) and, in my intuitive way, I decided that they’d make a good foundation for a poncho. I joined them together in a haphazard pattern and then continued to crochet – adding a hood, epaulettes, horns, arms, skirting and more. I just kept at it with my hook.
It has no purpose, nor is it intentionally an artistic item – it was creation for its own sake. The majority of the yarn was donated – the rest taken from discount bins. It has no great credentials in any way – there’s a mix of wool, cotton and manmade fibres.
Me
As an object the poncho needs to be worn; otherwise it looks like a non-functional table cloth. It has to drape of the shoulders of a human and, given its my poncho – created by me, for me and to give me focus – then I seem like the only person who should wear it for this presentation.
That said – I think a future piece of work would be to have others wear it under my creative direction. I’d be very interested in how that would create further imagery of interest and intrigue.
The photographer
Morticia and I first got to know one another on a photographic exhibition in Armley, Leeds. We were at the industrial museum enjoying the collection and recording the space. It wasn’t the first time we’d met – but it was the first time we’d created together. We snapped and talked and meandered – and we clicked.
Over the time since she’s been there through many occasions when I’ve needed a prop or a distraction. Her own practice investigating a former graveyard in equal parts amuses and impresses me. I love the way she goes about planning, making and presenting her work.
The artwork shown on this page was displayed at Northlight (Leeds) in September 2023 in the Arts & Minds group exhibition.
Jon Eland 