You Are

The subject of this project and the conversations that unfolded bought me immediately to my maternal Grandmother and consequently a line of mothers from the North West of England. I was born, lived and worked in Australia until eight years ago when I moved to Manchester, where I now live and work. I had always known of my Grandmother Mary’s history of working at Greg’s Mill in Reddish and from this sought to understand more about her Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother. During this process I was at times confronted by a grief that emerged that I can identify as connected to my Great Great Great Grandmother Maryanne Tripp (nee Warrington) who died in the Toxteth Workhouse in 1862. The grief that I experience very much feels embodied. I don’t know much about her, what circumstances led to her being a workhouse, what her cause of death was, but the knowledge of the conditions she may have spent her time in, is incredibly saddening.  

Thank you to my Mother Christine for sharing the information she has dedicated many years to gathering about the family history.

My contribution: 

I place myself in the image acknowledging that all the women mentioned in this work are present through my body’s presence. Also as a dance and movement artist the body is the focus of my work.

I place objects of my work (a computer, glasses I wear working).

I place a leather wallet my Grandmother Mary carried important documents in when she emigrated from England to Australia. I now carry my important documents in this when I travel.

I place passports that are a part of my work, as I travel with work often, but they also link the two places in this narrative.

I place textile that connects me to the work in the Mills and the history of the places my Grandmothers (including Great) were born and lived and how work changed because of the textile industry and the industrial revolution.

Thank you to Pavel Haradnitski for taking this image for me.