Profile

Textiles have been woven into the fabric of my life since I was a kid growing up in East London. My nan was a seamstress, making dresses for my grandad’s sister, who ran a children’s clothes stall right on Bethnal Green Road. Her daughter later opened a shop on Roman Road specialising in bridal and bridesmaid dresses for Romany Gypsies. I can still picture visiting my nan and grandad’s house: her industrial sewing machine kept in the box room, teaching me how to use it in a room packed to the rafters with frilly fabric. When I’d visit the shop, every single dress had to be bigger, brighter, and sparklier than the last.

My mum taught me to knit from an early age, I’d study her endless knitting books, learning patterns and techniques, creating a variety of unfinished jumpers. My aunt had a passion for embroidery and introduced me to all kinds of traditional and alternative stitches, while my mum’s neighbour—who has lived next door to her my whole life—gifted me my first knitting machine and has always helped me out whenever I needed advise with crocheting.

While I enjoyed textiles at college, I developed a passion for metalwork, leading me to study Designed Metalwork at Plymouth University, graduating in 2000. That same year, I was recognised as part of the Goldsmiths’ Company’s graduate showcase, and my work was exhibited at Ralph Lauren Interiors on New Bond Street and in Dubai for interior decoration.

In 2003, my life circumstances changed and I stopped making altogether. It wasn’t until the birth my first child in 2008 I felt  creative again. I couldn’t spend time in the workshop with a baby but I started to combine my passions of metalwork and textiles and started crocheting and knitting with wire. I’ve always been environmentally conscious, I wanted to incorporate a ethical concept so I began stripping telephone cables I had found on the floor for the copper wire to knit on the machine, and weaving the plastic coverings, and crocheting necklaces. I then started upcycling clothes with alternative materials, melting down plastic bottle lids, working with deadstock fabrics, and reclaiming old wool.

In 2023 my life circumstances changed again which led me to make the decision to leave East London and move to the Isle of Sheppy. My parents have a place in Leysdown and I’ve spent so much time there, I have always had fond memories but moving to the Isle had ignited my passion and I just love discovering all the magical places and amazing history the island holds.

My first winter, on a low-tide beach walk, I stumbled across a "forest" of dead trees where the tide had trapped piles of washed-up fabrics and textiles. I collected them, washed them through, and started machine-embroidering the salvaged fabrics onto bags and clothing—turning fast fashion on its head through slow, circular design. I adorned them with a mix of traditional heritage textile techniques and marine salvage: fishing wire, plastics, and sea glass, transforming them into underwater landscapes inspired by coral reefs.

I was melting the plastic but now instead of changing the plastic, I want people to see the reality of what the Sea produces, how the sea transforms rubbish into sea treasures, and how the sand and pressure almost mold waste into precious-looking objects.

I’ve always loved shells and collected them from a young age, but the more I beachcombed, the more I became obsessed with whelk shells, finding these indigenous treasures scattered among the tide-line alongside tangled fishing nets. I developed a crochet pattern to capture the sculptural curves of the shells, and began making small sculptural pieces and bags using washed up fishing wire to translate the juxtaposition and metamorphosis. 

My most recent work brings everything full circle, uniting my lifelong loves of metalwork and textiles. It’s a celebration of where I’ve come from, what I’ve done, and what I’m discovering on the shore today. I start with metal waste, shaping wire to form the skeleton of the shell. From there, I crochet the fishing wire using a shell stitch, before working finer wire and hand-embroidering the found fabrics to bring the entire seascape to life.