Georgina Bell

Artist statement

I work with felt, embroidery and print to produce garments of clothing, drawings and textiles that have a personal narrative.

Currently I am interested in examining my own identity and its relationship to the places that I live, work and travel to. My work explores the wider concept of journeys and mapping and is based on my personal experience of both physical and psychological travelling. Cartography, weather charts and geographical and archaeological drawings are visual influences.

My work centres on the belief that identity is transient in its nature, a fluid entity in constant transit. Key to my understanding of my own identity is the thought that humans are not fixed points but made up out of a series of changes and developments; a process of metamorphosis, a continual journey, a fusing together of experiences.

A key area of interest within my practice is the idea of clothing as a means of communication and the fact that clothing provides individuals with their anthropological, social and religious identity. I use clothing and embellish it with methods traditionally associated with the feminine, for example, embroidery. The end result is a garment that is transformed into a psychological map loaded with codes, signs, symbols an words that explore personal experience and universal memories.

The works that I produce can be diverse in their use of materials, methods and concepts but the link between each piece is always the process of drawing and the idea of journeys. Initially I draw with traditional media such as pens, pencils, ink, and then transform my drawings with screen-printing, dyes, the sewing machine, the computer, felt, embroidery silks and cotton.