‘Insider information’ is the title of the net curtain I am exhibiting in the James Hockey Gallery at Farnham as part of the ‘Time-Place-Space’ exhibition. This net curtain conceals and reveals many coded messages and the idea is that the elements all contain hidden messages and together form a narrative about the domestic. It includes an embroidered QR code and the words ‘help me’ stitched in human hair. The use of cross stitch and human hair reference Victorian domestic needlework, in particular samplers and mourning brooches. The embroidered QR code speaks of neat controlled stitching but conceals another message. The stitching in human hair tells one story but conceals the DNA of the seamstress. The veil of the curtain itself suggests another reading. They all provide many layered meanings and together produce a narrative about the domestic that can only be read by those with keys to unlock the codes. I like the idea that stitching can be considered a form of coded communication and an alternative site of meaning making.
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