Collective knitted curtain, 2024 – ongoing

Time Stitches grows out of my previous project, Tracing Wounds, which explored the invisible struggles we carry, particularly mental scars. That work was shaped by my ongoing search for healing, often marked by frustration and disappointment. Throughout that process, I came to realise how much making allows me to sit with difficult thoughts, reflect, and process them. I approached this project in much the same way, trusting that the slow, labour-intensive process of making would once again become a space for reflection. This time, however, I realised I needed to expand the process rather than simply continue it. This led me to patchworking: the idea of creating something whole from fragments. I began thinking not only about fabric, but also about people. How we come together, and how individual contributions can become part of something larger than ourselves. Rather than treating healing as an individual process, I became interested in how care can take shape collectively.
Inspired by quilting communities, Time Stitches opens this process to others. I invite anyone who feels drawn to participate by knitting with copper thread, either alongside me or independently. Each knitted piece becomes part of a growing curtain of copper patches. Like handwriting, every person's way of knitting is unique, allowing each contribution to remain visible within the whole. Together, these individual pieces form a collective tapestry of care, connection, and shared making.

Photos and video by Anne Lakeman