Nine Women by Elena Thomas- Private View

  What an honour to document this event for this incredible artist, friend and role model. Since I was a kid, I relished her visits, when she would arrive with some form of arts or craft for me to discover. After a successful career as an art teacher she is now concentrating fully on her own work, and with lottery funding from the Arts Council, completed her impressive project Nine Women which I was asked to photograph and film. 

   It was a pleasure to not only capture the work but also the reaction of the audience; who were encouraged to respectfully interact with the work of the pre-loved and laboriously embroidered bras, that bounced around the gallery space. As well as watch Elena perform several of her songs which accompany the work, these also played as a recording in the gallery. The combination of words, both embroidered and in the music and the physical work created a very powerful instillation which created a very female friendly environment, reflecting the fierce, passionate nature of Thomas and the middle-aged women which much of this piece focuses on.