PUBLIC ART COMMISSION.

Nicola’s subject for the textile work for Gravesham ‘Bloomin’ Lovely ‘festival at Milton Chantry was flowers that heal and pollinating bees. Inspired by the Chantry’s 700 year history as a hospital, place of religion, Inn and barracks. The work evoked a sense of healing following the collective experience of the pandemic, with healing enhanced by engagement with creativity, wether viewing art or making it. 

The textile work was sympathetic to the interior of the Chantry, installed in the far window of the Tudor room where light pours through the work creating a stained glass, lace effect. The hand sewn, repurposed wool blanket and bed sheets reference the Chantry’s history as a military barracks where soldiers slept in cramped conditions and undertook sewing and mending. The textile work shows large embroidered flowers that were historically used for medicinal purposes and relate to the Chantry’s past, housing different groups of people and functioning as a hospital. The flowers and their healing properties include; Mountain Larkspur (blue) for lice, parasites and spiritual inspiration, counter to materialism; Prunella Vulgaris (brown) to protect against viruses, infections, STD’s, herpes and chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes; Indian Rose Chestnut (white) for leprosy, anti inflammatory, gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases; Mullein (yellow) for bronchitis, fever, flu, joint pain and skin conditions. 

To further engage the senses the work was infused with the smell of lavender, cinnamon and vanilla, filling the room with an aroma and a row of bells gently move in the breeze to summon the community to spiritual service.

Accompanying the textile piece was an installation of miniature beds with blankets embroidered with the healing flowers from the textile work. This references the Chantry’s time as a hospital, then barracks, when three floors of ‘vermin infested and bat inhabited rooms were used by single men and families, the latter having no more than a curtain around the bed for privacy’.

Nicola included the work of Gravesend creatives in the textile piece, she distributed ‘Bee Embroidery packs’ to the local  community from the Visitors Information Centre at Gravesend Market, (Pandemic rules of social distancing were still in place). The beautifully embellished bees were a pivotal addition to the textile piece, acknowledging the Chantry’s lively past as an Inn serving mead and honey wine. It was magical and humbling to receive the finished bees, thank you to those who contributed with their time, care and creativity.

The exhibition was accompanied by a family workshop, ‘Making miniature beds’.

Funded by Make It Grant, Gravesham Borough Council.