Working gently, always gently. The leaves, part of the prayer for healing, for recovery, stitch themselves into this bone, allowing it to be offered now, with gratitude.
Artist Statement
This series of works pertain to the life of a dearly loved sister, who passed away in 2013.
In 2010 my sister sustained a cervical spine fracture resulting from a car accident, after which I made ‘Recovery‘, a kind of gratitude offering for the full healing which took place following this event.
“I wrap and encase the hand wrought framework, and fix the fine layer of bandage to these supporting curves. Working gently, always gently. The leaves, part of the prayer for healing, for recovery, stitch themselves into this bone, allowing it to be offered now, with gratitude.”
(Kate Campbell-Pope – ‘Re -A Prefix’ Catalogue Artist Statement)
After the subsequent traumatic loss of her life in 2013, time in the studio was spent in a kind of undirected, haphazard and non outcome focussed state of making. The materials of wire, bandage and thread, along with the rhythmical winding, binding and netting, somehow provided a means by which my extreme feelings could be soothed, and directed into an object. A strange heart shaped basket began to emerge, and it’s cuttlefish bone contents, carved as stars. ‘Collect’, took the form of a porous vessel, and became a futile attempt to contain the uncontainable.
‘All the Leaves in My Garden‘, made in 2024, is a current response to living with this particular and ongoing sense of grief and loss. Stitched green thread describes the flourishing garden, in the context of comfort for the injured body. Leaves, supplanted again in hope for healing and continued growth, are stitched anew on to this supportive cloth.
Biography
Kate Campbell-Pope is a well established visual artist, currently residing in Albany, WA.
Her arts practice encompasses gallery works, community arts, public art, teaching, curating, and mentoring.
She has exhibited extensively in exhibitions locally, nationally, and internationally in Chile and Japan. Her works have been included in several national survey exhibitions such as the Tamworth Textile Triennial (2014), LoveLace (2011), and Woven Forms (2005).
Her artwork is mostly sculptural in nature, and is concerned with the relationships between materials and meaning. Kate’s work references the natural environment and our place within it, expressing the ephemerality of human life. Issues of waste and sustainability are central to her art practice, and this is reflected in choice of materials and use of found and discarded objects.
Artworks are represented in a number of public collections such as AGWA, King Edward Memorial Hospital, City of Tamworth, in addition to various private collections.
Connect
Instagram @katecampbellpope
list of works
Kate Campbell-Pope
Recovery
2011
Floristry wire, bandage, thread
15cm x 8cm x 17cm
NFS
Kate Campbell-Pope
Collect
2016
Floristry wire, bandage, thread, carved cuttlefish
50cm x 30cm x 15cm
NFS
Kate Campbell-Pope
All the Leaves in My Garden
2024
Father’s calico arm sling, embroidery thread
65cm x 135cm
NFS
Artwork
