Global Bodies
'The Unity of Women' (detail) 2015 Wood and lino tea tray, metal tea pot, metal tea strainer, glass cup and saucer, Tetley tea, hot water (optional), painted plastic figurines 45 x 14 x 28 cm
Exhibited at Embassy Tea Gallery, London 2015; Euroart Studio London 2016
This piece came to me as a hallucination while I was stirring one of those fancy silk pyramid teabags. I was close to deadline for a site-responsive exhibition at Embassy Tea Gallery with my tenthirtyart colleagues. I had wanted to make a piece about the conditions endured by women in today's tea industry, based on research by my oldest friend Sabita Banerji (please check out her charity THIRST), and the title is based on the English translation of the name of the tea workers' trade union Pembilai Orumai.
At first, you don't see the tiny women in the tea strainer. We don't look enough and we don't think enough about who does the hardest work in the tea industry.
Exhibited at Embassy Tea Gallery, London 2015; Euroart Studio London 2016
This piece came to me as a hallucination while I was stirring one of those fancy silk pyramid teabags. I was close to deadline for a site-responsive exhibition at Embassy Tea Gallery with my tenthirtyart colleagues. I had wanted to make a piece about the conditions endured by women in today's tea industry, based on research by my oldest friend Sabita Banerji (please check out her charity THIRST), and the title is based on the English translation of the name of the tea workers' trade union Pembilai Orumai.
At first, you don't see the tiny women in the tea strainer. We don't look enough and we don't think enough about who does the hardest work in the tea industry.
'The Unity of Women' (installation view) 2015 Wood and lino tea tray, metal tea pot, metal tea strainer, glass cup and saucer, Tetley tea, hot water (optional), painted plastic figurines 45 x 14 x 28 cm
Exhibited at Embassy Tea Gallery, London 2015; Euroart Studio London 2016
Once I'd had the hallucination I just had to find all the components for the piece. Nearly everything here is from charity shops, except for the tiny plastic women, and the tea. I chose Tetley tea because they were in the news at the time for poor worker conditions, but it could have been more or less any major tea brand. Every morning of the exhibition I made a fresh pot of tea and poured it through the strainer, over the women. Who made your tea?
Exhibited at Embassy Tea Gallery, London 2015; Euroart Studio London 2016
Once I'd had the hallucination I just had to find all the components for the piece. Nearly everything here is from charity shops, except for the tiny plastic women, and the tea. I chose Tetley tea because they were in the news at the time for poor worker conditions, but it could have been more or less any major tea brand. Every morning of the exhibition I made a fresh pot of tea and poured it through the strainer, over the women. Who made your tea?
“Two leaves and a bud” 2015 Tea tray, sari fabric, tea bag, Tetley tea, painted plastic figurines 39 x 8 x 20 cm
Exhibited at Embassy Tea Gallery, London 2015; Euroart Studio London 2016
The tea bag is full of women and the fabric bags are full of tea. The Union flag tea tray was a gift from the universe, a lucky charity shop find along with the sari fabrics. The title is based on PG Tips' claim that their nimble-fingered workers picked only the very best tea from the tips of the branches. Best not to mention the up to 40kg loaded basket carried back down at the end of the day by a worker who weighs little more than that herself, and gets the lowest pay in her industry.
Exhibited at Embassy Tea Gallery, London 2015; Euroart Studio London 2016
The tea bag is full of women and the fabric bags are full of tea. The Union flag tea tray was a gift from the universe, a lucky charity shop find along with the sari fabrics. The title is based on PG Tips' claim that their nimble-fingered workers picked only the very best tea from the tips of the branches. Best not to mention the up to 40kg loaded basket carried back down at the end of the day by a worker who weighs little more than that herself, and gets the lowest pay in her industry.
'Drowned World (London +4°C)' 2019 Collage, predicted sea-level data from Climate Central, tissue and gold ink on reclaimed stretcher and repurposed cotton toile 76 x 60.5 cm (4cm deep)
Exhibited in Confluence, London 2019; Depictions of Living, London 2020; Ikon for Artists, Birmingham 2021
This work was made for 'Confluence' a group show of artists working on environmental themes, invited and curated by Justine Johnson at Safehouse in London. The collage features pages from the London A-Z and projected sea level data from Climate Central to show how the areas of London I lived and worked in would be affected by a rise in global temperature of 4°C. The Safehouse would be safe, but my studio in Tottenham would be drowned.
Climate scientists are now extremely concerned that global heating will rise to at least 3°C above pre-industrial levels, and still politicians worldwide are dragging their feet about changing policies to protect people rather than corporations.
If you're voting this year, vote for the protection of our planet. Get involved in climate activism if you can, there is no Planet B!
Exhibited in Confluence, London 2019; Depictions of Living, London 2020; Ikon for Artists, Birmingham 2021
This work was made for 'Confluence' a group show of artists working on environmental themes, invited and curated by Justine Johnson at Safehouse in London. The collage features pages from the London A-Z and projected sea level data from Climate Central to show how the areas of London I lived and worked in would be affected by a rise in global temperature of 4°C. The Safehouse would be safe, but my studio in Tottenham would be drowned.
Climate scientists are now extremely concerned that global heating will rise to at least 3°C above pre-industrial levels, and still politicians worldwide are dragging their feet about changing policies to protect people rather than corporations.
If you're voting this year, vote for the protection of our planet. Get involved in climate activism if you can, there is no Planet B!
'Vision: After Rana (Own It)' 2016 Hand-drawn animation (MP4 file), LED projector, media player, T-shirts, coat hangers Nominally 150cm x 250cm x 60cm Exhibited at Rag Factory, London 2016, and Camden Image Gallery 2021 (Collection of Jana Valencic)
This version of 'Vision' was made for a site-responsive group show at the Rag Factory gallery in Brick Lane, London in 2016. The piece features a 27 second looped hand-drawn animation projected onto a backdrop of Primark garments, with a pile of wire coat hangers on the floor underneath (not shown here). It was my response to the disaster at the Rana Plaza garment factory in 2013 (this exhibition was originally scheduled to take place in the week of the third anniversary of the factory collapse). When the animation was shown again in 2021, the Rana Plaza workers had still not been properly compensated for their injuries. Many of them are still waiting 11 years after the disaster. Fast fashion is still killing and maiming people in the poorer parts of the world, and is a massive contributor to climate change and pollution. #WhoMadeYourClothes
This version of 'Vision' was made for a site-responsive group show at the Rag Factory gallery in Brick Lane, London in 2016. The piece features a 27 second looped hand-drawn animation projected onto a backdrop of Primark garments, with a pile of wire coat hangers on the floor underneath (not shown here). It was my response to the disaster at the Rana Plaza garment factory in 2013 (this exhibition was originally scheduled to take place in the week of the third anniversary of the factory collapse). When the animation was shown again in 2021, the Rana Plaza workers had still not been properly compensated for their injuries. Many of them are still waiting 11 years after the disaster. Fast fashion is still killing and maiming people in the poorer parts of the world, and is a massive contributor to climate change and pollution. #WhoMadeYourClothes