Teleidoscope
Drawings

Teleidoscope Drawings I, II & III, contain elements from both the Teleidoscopes and the Teleidoscope Rubbings I, II, & III, however, scale was of primary concern in the construction of these drawings. These larger drawings express how the bobbinet tulle is an elemental feature that is interwoven into the fabric of the culture at Chard through their scale. In contrast to the Teleidoscope Rubbings, the sections of the drawings needed to be stitched together. Stiches became an important feature of the work especially so in Teleidoscope Drawing II, where the drawing was purposely cut into to reveal the stitches.

Teleidoscope Drawing I (detail)
Spider tissue 9 gsm, graphite, and thread

Teleidoscope Drawing I (details)
Spider tissue 9 gsm, graphite, and thread

It was evident that a long history of mending had created a shared identity amongst the women in the community. The bobbinet tulle industry and in particular mending is embodied in the drawings by making connections between occurrences. These drawings reflect the collective history about mending that provides an identifiable self-image for the women at Chard. The drawings imbue memories associated with mending – however, the unique individual stories that inhabit the memories are unable to be read as they merge together here to form a collective history.