Natalie Sirett Art
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Natalie Sirett Art

​K is for Kevin  

KisforKevin, (the Kevin of the title referencing Lionel Shriver’s novel), comprises fifty-four antique handkerchiefs stitched with sections of text and image, a diary of the artist’s cancer treatment.
​ 
I HAVEN'T DONE ENOUGH, says handkerchief#4
WORK HARD, BE HOPEFUL, DON’T DIE,  urges handkerchief#38, 
CAN'T SLEEP HAVEN'T CRIED. CRIED CAN'T SLEEP HAVEN’T. SLEEP CRIED CAN'T HAVEN'T retorts handkerchief#27. 

Strung like prayer flags above and around the viewer, each embroidery contributes to a restless, sometimes jarringly beautiful whole. Regarding her use of vintage handkerchiefs, Sirett explains “I have collected them for several years, drawn to the tales they contain in their hand stitched initialled corners and to the roles they have played as keepsake and love token, as signs of surrender or farewell.”    Natalie Sirett 2021
#1 - I AM NOT WHAT I WAS. I DON’T KNOW WHAT I AM
#2 - K is for KEVIN
#3 - I DON'T WANT TO DIE
#4 - I HAVEN'T DONE ENOUGH
#5 - KEVIN is my CARCINOMA
#6 - MALIGN
#7 - SHADOW
#8 - 48mm Grade 3 IDCarcinoma AKA KEVIN
#9 - TRIPLE, TRIPLE, TRIPLE NEGATIVE
#10 - WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
#11 - BIG C
#12 – PLAGUE(D)
#13 – KILLING KEVIN
#14 FIGHTING TALK
#15 – POISON CURE
#16 - CUTTING OUT & STITCHING TOGETHER HALF-STUFFED NOW WITH LEAKING SEAMS
#17 - IT’S A ‘WHAT IF I DON’T GET BETTER’ DAY
#18 - I AM SCARED ALL THE TIME, TIME SCARED I THE ALL AM...
#19 - STICK AROUND, BE FOCUSED, DON'T DIE
#20 - ADJUVANT AC-T CARBO INSECTS DON'T BITE ME (THEY KNOW)
#21 - CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE
#22 - DOXORUBICIN
#23 - DESCENT
#24 - HAIR LOSS IS NOT GOING WELL. NO ONE UNDERSTANDS. I WANT TO SCREAM AND RAGE AND SMASH THINGS UP
#25 - FRAGILE
#26 – SHORN SHAMED THIS IS WHERE I LOST MYSELF
#27 - CAN'T SLEEP HAVEN'T CRIED ~ CRIED CAN'T SLEEP HAVEN'T ~ SLEEP CRIED CAN'T HAVEN'T
#28 – INSOMNIAC MANIAC STEROID FRENZY
#29 - HAIR LOSS IS NOT GOING WELL. IT MAKES MY MONSTEROUSNESS FEELS CONFIRMED. THESE ARE MY PRIVATE SORROWS. I DON’T WANT THEM WRITTEN ON ME
#30 – I’M FURIOUS
#31 – I MUST PAY
#32 - I DON'T WANT MY MISFORTUNE WRITTEN ON ME….
#33 - I WANT MY STUPID LITTLE LIFE BACK
#34 - I PUT MY HAIR IN A PAPER BAG
#35 SHORN I AM SHAMED THIS IS WHERE LOST MYSELF
#36 - SAMSOMED AND DELILAHED
#37 – I WANT
#38 – WORK HARD BE HOPEFUL DON’T DIE
#39 - PACLITAXEL
#40 - CARBOPLATIN
#41 - ANAPHYLAXIS
#42 - I TRY TO STAY ME BUT SHE KEEPS SLIPPING AWAY
#43 – THINGS GET LOST
#44 - HERE COME ALL THE OTHER FEARS, FREED FROM CAREFULLY CRAFTED BOXES
#45 - TAKE YOUR MEDICINE, BE GRATEFUL DON’T DIE
#46 - INVALID IN VALID, IN VEIN, IN VAIN
#47 – ANOTHER NIGHT on the STEROIDS
#48 - ANIMAL FEAR MOST OF THE TIME
#49 - SCANXIETY
#50 – IS IT GONE
#51 - SURVIVORSHIP
#52 - I DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM, I DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL.
#53 – SURFACING CHANGED
#54 - UNLEARN EVERYTHING. NOW IS THE TIME
K is for Kevin FAQs:

Why Kevin?
Kevin refers to Lionel Shriver’s novel ‘We Need to Talk about Kevin. I christened my 48mm triple negative carcinoma Kevin soon after diagnosis. I needed to get my terrified brain to know that it was inside me and would kill me unless it was addressed. The name stuck. After surgery I wished Kevin gone. In chemo and radio therapy I wished every molecule of his being destroyed. In physio, I put on pink boxing gloves and belted the hell out of his DNA.
​

Why Embroidery?
The stitching of these works felt like a no-brainer. Writing with pencil, pen or brush was just wrong. These words needed to be pierced through fabric, pricked, pulled looped and tightened – needle-worked into form.
 
Why Handkerchiefs?
This choice was also something that made sense early on. I had begun to collect vintage handkerchiefs a few years prior to the cancer. There is something moving in their initialled corners, hand-stitched for the owner, perhaps as a gift. I knew I would use them but wasn’t sure how. Working my story onto these pieces of fabric from the lives of others, I’ve begun to understand that there is meaning in hankies! They are keepsakes and love tokens; they are waved in goodbyes and surrenders, and they dry our tears. 
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