Folds

The exhibition ‘Folds’ was a site-referential installation located in a vacant out building that was once the ‘dry laundry’ at the National Trust property, Newton House in Wales, UK. Hillard, inspired by this forgotten room and the subtle imprints of past occupation further explored these clues to the daily rituals and tasks that occurred in this space. A separate feminine sphere and social space, where the labor was considered arduous and by no means pleasant perhaps held a sense of purpose. In the repair and repetition, the making and unmaking the folding and unfolding. These acts are echoed in the porcelain ceramics created by Hillard, once damask table linen and lace doilies are hand dipped, folded and fired and suspended in space to create a ‘place setting’. A series of embossed prints and woven works similarly transfigured these processes within a material form created by Hillard. By mapping the absence Hillard hoped to confirm a presence, re-tracing and merging the history of the laundry, the specifics of site and the meaning of materials.