White Stuff

32cm x 22cm x 16cm

 

Description

Collection of white lace, ribbons, trimmings & other textile items

Themes, comments & storylines

White is the color of emptiness, like the pages of a diary, like the linen of a sampler, so the whiteness of memory, where experiences tend to be blanked out and impressions fade away unless a conscious effort is made to hold on to them and give them a place.

 

White is the color of the celestial, and the purity and innocence of the young, white light indicates the presence of the divine.

 

White is the color of linen which has been associated with cleanliness of the body and the spirit. In early Mediterranean cultures, Jewish, Egyptian and Greek priests’ garments were made from linen to symbolize purity.

 

White is the colour of linen woven, washed and bleached in the snow.

 

White cloth, especially linen, as our second skin, has long been associated with our body, like the veil of Veronica outlining its shape, fragile and vulnerable. As the body ages and eventually decays, so does cloth. White is also the colour of bandages and straightjackets, of pale faces on hospital sheets, the colour of the table cloth and napkins, starched, worn thin from frequent washing.

Like in samplers, white cloth becomes the carrier of memories, not like a blank page of a notebook, which is empty to start with, but already laden with meaning, its cleanliness and perfection suggesting health, beauty and innocence, while when stained, torn or cut, it evokes images of illness, decay,  age and injury. Any indication of the previous or intended use, immediately evokes particular associations: a sheet, a tablecloth and a handkerchief have very different stories to tell.