An Evolution of Global Viruses
- fionaoharaart
- Apr 5, 2021
- 2 min read
An Evolution of Global Viruses
began with a generous gift, an exquisite collection of vintage lace and hand embroidered textiles given to me by an old friend. The collection had belonged to her Mother and spanned an interesting family history from the US to Ireland. During the time Rebecca gifted me her lace collection she showed me a booklet of an ancestor who had been involved in vaccine research in the US. This memory of a snatch of conversation, combined with cleaning the lace collection and of course our real life experience of attempting to live with the outbreak of CoVid19 global Pandemic, formed into an idea for an art work.
An evolution of global viruses is four glass flasks each containing a linen disc in its base which, is hand embroidered with a microscopic image of a virus. The first flask is The Spanish ‘flu of 1918. I associate the handkerchief from Rebecca’s collection with this era because of the beautiful stitching that would have made this handkerchief a daily treasured item for personal use by the monogrammed MPB and also among the lace collection and sewing supplies I was gifted I found a receipt signed by a lady with the same initials dated 1918. Although this Pandemic has been named the Spanish flu some researchers suggest it may have originated in the US. The handkerchief with stitched initials makes for a tangible link to the era and the pandemic of a century ago. The second flask of Asian ‘flu from 1957 has attached, shrouding the flask a handkerchief also from Rebecca’s collection which is hand finished in lace work around the edges, again appropriate to this era and not to our present time. The third flask contains the SARS virus of 2003 which, didn’t effect Ireland to the same extent as as CoVid 19 but is shrouded in an Irish linen handkerchief gifted to me by family friend Annette. The fourth flask is our present pandemic CoVid19 shrouded in paper tissues, a mass produced disposable solution to disposing of bacteria but combined with mass produced plastic masks they have brought their own environmental hazards.
There is a sense of hope in creating a small chronology of global Pandemics in that many generations have survived through these Pandemics, their trials and devastating losses. Pandemics are not a new emergence they are laced through history. How we deal with these viruses has also evolved as evidenced through the artifacts of textiles and the narratives we stitch and create.
An Evolution of Global Viruses is exhibited in the show ‘Signal Arts Centre 30 years of Making’ in The Mermaid Arts Centre, in Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland from March 29th to April 24th 2021. You can visit this virtual exhibition by following the link
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