I am an artist and academic with a 30-year practice which explores vernacular crafts, material culture, and systems of meaning. My work spans printmaking, sculpture, embroidery and archival installation. I am currently developing exhibitions on the subject of cotton and empire.
In my current role as Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, my project Paper/Cotton/Plant focuses on ethnobotany, with a particular interest in John Gerard’s 1597 Herball.
I studied at the Royal College of Art London and have a doctorate in fine art which examines the poetics of Victorian material culture. I have been trustee of several arts organisations and am a regular speaker in the fields of material culture studies, textiles, craft, empire and the postcolonial archive.
I currently sit on the Designation Scheme Panel for Arts Council England, I co-edit Vol.4 Colour of the Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of World Textiles and my work is represented in institutions including the National Museums NI, The Whitworth, and the Government Art Collection.