Between Thursday 4^th April 2013 and Sunday 7^th April 2013 I took part in the residency ‘Progress in Work III’ curated by Extra Bones founder Andrew Kerr at Utrophia in Deptford. I worked alongside artists Tim Spooner and Stephen Fowler and the concept of storytelling loosely connected our practice during the weekend. Thursday was our launch night intended as an introduction to the residency and I took this opportunity to collect stories for the project I had planned to explore during this time.

 

In meetings and correspondence prior to the residency, we discussed possible work we could create during the residency. We were encouraged to produce work that would involve working with the space and perhaps have input from the public. I named my sub-project within the residency ‘Good Stories’ and asked people to draw or write a ‘good story’ about Deptford or something positive they experienced in Deptford. I then spent Friday and Saturday stitching the stories on a large piece of cloth and encouraging visitors to submit more stories.

 

I produced eight small embroideries on a piece of cloth, choosing to work in black and white to create uniformity between the stories. Usually my work inspired by an area is more as an observer – I draw people going about their daily routine during walks, building up a visual map of people through coloured embroideries. This project meant being more a ‘curator’ of stories and exploring an area through the stories of others. It was a really interesting experience, as we had people popping in to draw, write, print and telling us of their love of Deptford.