Hand Quilted Powder Puffs

Culture & Context

The powder puff carries very unique associations. It originated as a textile object used for covert cosmetic application.

Contemporary times sees the word ‘puff’ often used as a homophobic slur. The associated soft, delicate nature is seen as weak and effeminate and one of derision of the gay community.

I am using traditional stitches in a contemporary way, in order to repair these textile artefacts; the double entendre of ‘puff’ being a key factor in the narrative of this body of work

The mending of both the cloth and the self, the material and the immaterial, are intrinsic to this project.