altered states - Susan Stockwell

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susan stockwellseven-centimetre patchwork squares andreconfigured by hand-sewing the piecestogether. The US makes up the border; otherpieces are scattered strategically. Most pertinently,the Middle East and Washington DCare placed at the centre of the quilt, underliningthe pervasive presence of AmericanImperialism. Imperial Quilt is also about massmemory, a reminder of the millions roundthe world who demonstrated against theimpending war in Iraq – Stockwell attendedthe London mass march in February 2003,the diverse throng of women, men and childrena human quilt joined together by angerand frustration at the imminent conflict.Stockwell’s current work appears to departfrom political commentary, instead exploringromance and desire. But this shift is no greatleap for Stockwell, who argues that ‘Love andpolitics are part of the same thing — look atDavid Blunkett. Most love affairs are politicaland politics is about desire and aspirations. Ithink that my work is not just about oneaspect.’ Not yet shown to the public, thesculpture BedBook (2005), as it is tentativelynamed, developed out of the Pulp FantasyQuilt – a piece composed of Mills and Booncovers linked by long hand-sewn stitches –made for the exhibition Pulp Fantasy in 2005.In BedBook, Mills and Boon page proofs fill theapertures of an iron bedstead, found discardedin Kings Cross. Some of the titles – MedicinalLove and The Perfect Husband – are visible,evoking readers’ hopes; love, intimacy andpassionate romance, graphically located wheresuch feelings are most often acted upon: inbed. Stockwell admits that she embarked onPulp Fantasy Quilt with an ironic eye, but asshe read and worked with the books moreclosely, her attitude became more considered.Jay Dixon, author of The Romance Fiction ofJANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006 CRAFTS 41
susan stockwellMills and Boon, 1909-1990s, has defendedwhat she considers this much-maligned genreof popular fiction, reassessing it from a feministperspective. Mills and Boon women, since1909, have been represented as taking controlof their own lives and that of their men,engaging in pre and extra-marital sex: ‘Thehome,’ writes Dixon, ‘is the place of femininepower into which the hero must be brought.’Rosemary Auchmuty, a specialist in 19th and20th-century feminist history agrees, arguingthat the underlying message in Mills and Boonis that ‘women can change men throughlove… to meet women’s standards.’ BedBookand Pulp Fantasy Quilt both explore this territory– after all, what better tools to discusssuch issues than a quilt and a bed, complexsymbols of home life and relationshipsencouraging new readings of the concept oflove, sexual encounters and the home.One wonders if deeper links can be madebetween the Mills and Boon world, and suchpieces as Trayne. Perhaps we can invoke postcolonialtheory, in the shape of African textiles.Historian Jessica Hemmings’s claim that‘the intersection between nation and individualcontinues to search for a balance betweenthe burden of the past and the demands ofthe hybrid present.’ Certainly Stockwell isnot the only artist to situate work in this territory– think of Yinka Shonibare’s GayVictorians, two Victorian-style bustled dressesusing ‘traditional’ West African fabrics.Colonialism and imperialism forcibly dispersedpeople from parts of Africa, via slavery,to European colonies – and while differentparts of the African diaspora remain connectedthrough this history, there have beenenormous cultural transformations amongthe constituent parts. Within this discourse,and reflecting it, Stockwell has made personalidentity less of a concern in her workthan the pursuit of authenticity of self.In complex times – when myriad formsand forces drive cultural process – onething that can be sincere is the agency ofthe maker/artist. All of which, for Stockwell,represents further aspects of her interestin the ‘stains of existence’, and her curiosityabout the places in between.Susan Stockwell shows in Conversations, a groupshow at the Ambrosino Gallery, 769 NE 125thSt, North Miami, USA, (001) 305 891 5577, fromMarch-May 2006 (dates to be confirmed), whereshe will be in conversation with Korean-Americanartist Jean Shin; and in a solo show at 20-21 VisualArts Centre, St John’s Church, Church Square, Scunthorpe,Lincolnshire DN15 6TB, (01724) 297070,in October 2006 (dates to be confirmed).42 CRAFTS JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006
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