Textile Details

'Play today, Pay tomorrow', by Irene MacWilliam. (Photo: Irene MacWilliam)

This wall hanging made by highly regarded quilt maker Irene MacWilliam lays out her personal concerns about the environment and the many aspects that we have to consider when dealing with this subject. She imparts emotion and a sense of emergency by depicting children carrying balloons stating the issues we have negatively affected in nature and in our wider environment. It also shows the footprints of carbon we have left all over the world and the hourglass serves to remind us that time is running out to repair this. It seems particularly poignant that here it is children who are burdened with environmental concerns as the clock ticks down, a legacy we adults are leaving them to deal with.

Irene's machine sewing skills are very present in her textiles. In her own words: "I am certainly not an arpillerista, though voice my concerns and recognise the power of this kind of textile narrative through my pieces that respond to the powerful arpilleras. I adopt the size, format and concerns, though I acknowledge I have not had such hard experiences as these women have, and sympathise with them and admire them."

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