TEXTILE TEMPORALITIES
L: How to be Seen: Necklace #2
Unpicked garments of Melissa and Hasmat, blue linen thread, copper piping.
R: How to be Seen: Necklace #3
Unpicked garments of Melissa and Shannon, blue linen thread, copper piping.
Community Wall Piece: Ode to Transitions
Unpicked garments of Hasmat, Claire, Michelle, Melissa, Roz, Lucy and Shannon, on black hessian with linen embroidery thread, copper piping, painted steel brackets.
Two pieces 230 x 120cm each
TEXTILE TEMPORALITIES, held at Manningham Art Gallery, was a participatory exhibition exploring the temporal nature of craft, human connection, and sites of intimacy. A central table hosted sewing workshops with Manningham residents, where participants unpicked garments of personal significance while sharing stories of transition and change, reflecting on how clothing marks lived experience.
The unpicked garments were arranged across two pieces of black hessian to evoke curtains and titled Community Wall Piece: Ode to Transitions. The work celebrates the multiple ways women come together to share and support one another while reflecting on delicate moments of transitions.
Remnants from the curtain were used to make oversized necklaces. Referencing jewellery as a traditionally feminine form, How to Be Seen emerged from conversations about visibility and clothing’s ability to both conceal and reveal the body. It offers a response to Hito Steyeri's work, How to Be Seen.
The exhibition also included previous blankets and weavings made from discarded clothing, alongside a public table inviting visitors to share their own experiences of clothing and attachment to textiles.
Presented at Manningham Art Gallery
November/December 2025
Shannon would like to extend a special thanks to the women who generously shared their clothing, stories, ideas of craft and how they feel about the shifting experience of being in the world.
Images courtesy of Manningham Art Gallery. Photo by Charlie Kinross.