Anchorage

‘Anchorage’ is a 4.5 x 3 meter textile installation, inspired by medieval anchoresses, women who lived and worked in dedicated cells or ‘anchorages’. The anchorage spaces created isolation, but also opportunities for connection as the community would seek spiritual guidance from the anchoress living there through windows in the cell walls.

I drew a parallel between anchoresses and my own experience as a chronically ill artist. Often spending long periods of time isolated in her 4.5 x 3 meter bedroom, I still seek to connect by sending art into the world.  The themes of the project are further explored in the companion artists book Book of Hours: An Almanac for the Seasons of the Soul.

The audio for Watches for an Ordinary Day plays out from ‘Anchorage’ like a message in a bottle, or the beam of a lighthouse on a dark night, the work reaches beyond the installation itself, appearing in art galleries and online accompanied by film.

Inside Anchorage you can see ‘How do You Sleep at Night?’, is a 2015 work, reimagined as part of this new installation. For ‘How do You Sleep at Night, Letty asked people what they said to self-soothe when unable to sleep and embroidered the replies in white thread on to white bedding.

Anchorage has been shown at Liverpool Parish Church as part of Dada Fest in June 2023 and at my solo show Anchorage at Attenborough Arts Centre October 2022 - January 2023