An exhibition exploring the emotional impact of dementia through hand-stitched portraits has opened in Jersey after more than a decade of touring across the UK and beyond.
The Dementia Darnings was created by artist Jenni Dutton and inspired by her mother Gladys’s battle with dementia.
Jenni transformed their family photo album into a series of delicate hand-stitched portraits as a way to connect with her mother and process what was happening to her.
The exhibition is on display at the Jersey Arts Centre from Monday 2 to Saturday 28 June.
Express caught up with the Jenni to find out more about her work….
Can you tell us about your artistic career so far?
I attended art school in London in the early seventies, then followed that with a years post grad teaching diploma.
I found myself a single parent and taught for 15 years, though I always managed to keep a studio practice going.
After my daughter left for university, I began making large wire and paper suspended figures, followed by a fascination with conceptual clothing.
It was not until I found myself as a carer for my mother, that I explored making the large portraits of her as she declined into dementia and old age.
Since she died in 2015, I have returned to conceptual clothing and wearable art.
How did you deal with your mother’s dementia?
It takes a while to feel the full effects of dementia in the family, as it comes on so slowly.
I lived the nearest to my mum so had the main responsibility for her care.
People with dementia are helped by looking at the family albums, as I think it gives them a sense of who they are when everyday life becomes confusing.
How did art help you process it all?
It seemed a perfect compromise to use my mum as the subject for my work as I was spending so much time with her.
She loved to see the work develop, and would eagerly recount what I was working on too.
It certainly helped me deal with my mum’s decline.
Why did you choose this style of art?
The stitching technique I use to build the portraits, I had not used before.
The idea was to build the image slowly similar to a cross hatch drawing. The latest work is more refined and resembles a tapestry in density.
The exhibition at the Jersey Arts Centre is the first time the whole series of 16 portraits have been shown removed from the canvas and suspended, I hope increasing the sense of fragility around the subject matter.
What impact would you like the exhibition to have?
I very much hope that visitors to the show in Jersey will feel the love and care that has gone into the work over time, and that it resonates with their personal experiences of caring for people with particular frailties.
I didn’t want to shy away from the more difficult images.
They express tenderness towards my lovely mum.
