Deidre Nelson

Ironers and shakers
London Printworks Trust
http://www.londonprintworks.com/

'I applied for an Arts Council Award for development in order to develop a body of work for a solo exhibition at London Printworks Trust. The opportunity to exhibit at London Printworks trust in Brixton had come about through links between the Centre for Advanced textiles and the trust.

Rather than exhibiting an existing body of work, I was very interested in using the area of Brixton as a starting point for a new body of work which was relevant to the area.

My previous work has been concerned with textile and social history so on my first visit to Brixton my primary area of interest was Walton Lodge Laundry on Coldharbour lane. The laundry has been trading in Brixton since 1880, and moved to its current site in 1895. The company has expanded and downsized over time, and now runs a thriving business laundering sheets for hotels and health clubs, tablecloths for restaurants and a linen hire service for many well known London venues. Walton Lodge Laundry has remained family owned since 1880.  I was particularly fascinated with the processes of laundering cloth and the movement of machinery, which although seemingly low tech, is controlled by sophisticated computer systems.

Table linens arrive at the laundry with a history embedded in the cloth through staining and traces of meals eaten and shared. The linen cycle begins with sorting and marking, washing, shaking out, ironing and folding to then be delivered back to the restaurants and hotels for the repetitive process to begin again.

Through a visit to the laundry I watched workers pass multiples of tablecloths and napkins through steam ironing machines resulting in cloths being folded and presented for collection. Developing ideas of movement of the laundry provided an opportunity to collaborate with rm* animators Deborah Norton and Gaylie Runcimen. Throughout the development of the work ideas and imagery were shared and developed into moving computer generated imagery creating imagery connected with cloth, printing/ staining and the processes of a steam laundry.

With an interest in table linens and ideas surrounding multicultural food, the area of Brixton market located beside the laundry presented an exciting resource for ideas. 

As a keen cook, I was excited by the vast array of international foods on sale including yams, smoked catfish, jack fruit, bitter melon and chicken feet and the vibrant and diverse atmosphere of Brixton market.

My main area of interest was that of investigating food stuffs with which I would dye and stain threads and fabric. This would help develop the idea of foods embedded in the cloth. Through visiting the market and discussing with stall holders which foods would stain or dye cloth and thread, I began to collect a palate of colour representative of the rich and varied food available on the market.  My first purchase was Jamaican curry powder from ‘Esmes’ which was to be later mixed with printing binders and screen printed onto cloth. Later purchases included sorrel, Nigerian palm oil, yellow gari, saffron, tandoori spices, turmeric.

I began to learn about new spices, foods and recipes and back in Glasgow, began creating my own recipes for food dyeing, jerk seasoning… sorrel… sumac berries… onion skins… parsley… spinach …creating a palate of dyed silks to stitch with.

Through the ‘contemporary archive’ of eBay, I began collecting damask napkins and tablecloths from different eras. These contained their own embedded histories of meals eaten and of multiple laundering. Through embroidering napkins and table linen with the food dyed threads, ‘stains’ were created mirroring the cuisine of the area. The formality of damask table linen is challenged with a napkin embroidered with chips and tomato ketchup soaked silk and the origins of damask weaving technique (originally from Syria, Persia, China and India) reclaimed through embroidering a willow patterned damask with spices. An original napkin from the African Steamship Company is embroidered with Nigerian palm oil ‘soaked’ silk, telling the story of the shipping line developed to assist with exporting of West African palm oil, in an attempt to oversee the end of world-wide slavery. MacGregor Laird’s African Steamship Company can probably lay claim to be one of the first Fair Trade companies in world. The napkin has its own embedded history of journeys between Britain and Africa and of food traded and meals eaten on such travels. 

Through the process and experience of working in Brixton, I have collected new knowledge of foods and recipes from a variety of places.  The opportunity to develop print techniques and experiment with new print ‘recipes’ - Jamaican curry powder , saffron and tandoori spices mixed with print binders - has allowed my work to develop in a new and culturally diverse way.

Creating work for Ironers and Shakers gave me a chance to combine both contemporary and historical aspects of Brixton - linking the laundry and market through cloth. I loved working in Brixton, and was overawed but excited by the richness of the area. With funding from the Scottish Arts Council I was able to develop my work in new ways through travel to London to research, sample and experiment in digital and traditional print. '

Deirdre Nelson
Glasgow, January 2006