21/04/2026
A commissioned piece installed in its new home inside the Ewart Building on Bedford Street in Belfast.
The original building was once a Linen store owned by the Ewart firm at the height of Belfast's Linenopolis era in the late 19th Century. Today it is home to a range of offices and businesses but much of the original sandstone building remains complete with beautiful architectural detail and its iconic copper dome.
This piece is comprised of a series of cylindrical earth vessels. Collectively the vessels are reminiscent of factory chimneys peppering the Belfast skyline. Or, perhaps, rows of spools of linen yarn and thread. Each one bears motifs inspired by the history of flax, of the earth, growth, rural production, of industrialisation. I wanted to capture the strength of the flax fibres, the rattle of the seed-heads, the noise of the looms, the damp of the factory floor, the sound of scutching, the fleeting colour of the 'wee blue blossom' in the landscape. So many sensory elements inspired this piece.
Imagery of flax flowers, flax pulling, flying shuttles, and architectural details from the original Ewart building have been drawn, etched, and printed by hand onto the surface of the linen. Flax Fibres are felted, threads and roots are printed onto surfaces, and rough tow is nestled within. Each vessel has been stained, marked and coloured with rust, inks and dyes. Flax fibres, linen threads and flax seeds heads embellish.
These vessels are a contrast to the beautifully refined, bleached and embroidered Linen goods and Damask that would have been masterfully produced by Ewart's employees and globally shipped from this location. Rather they speak of the labour, the land, intensity of seasonal production,the raw and the organic, and the layers of textile history symbolised by the building.
It was a process of research, trial and error. Consideration about what elements of the legacy to represent and how to do it justice. Hopefully I have done just that
