"When this you see remember me,

And keep me in your mind

And be not like a weather cock

That change with every wind.

When I am dead, and lain in grave,

And all my bones are rotten,

By this may I remembered be

When I should be forgotten."

18th century popular sampler verse

An overriding theme throughout my work has been that of preservation, record keeping and that transcendence into memory. The detritus of everyday life has a fascinating way of describing the individual. Fleeting moments, short notes, insignificant bruises are all traces of a persons life, a proof they were here, and interacted. The ephemeral nature of the objects and intangibility of memories inspire a desire to recreate them in a more meaningful way. The labour intensive, devotional act of embroidery is ideally suited to my intentions.The writings of Georges Perec have been very influential, most significantly A Void, in which there is a silent and subtle removal of the letter "e". There are also many elements of Sophie Calle's work which I love: the investigative but lighthearted often humorous nature. ReceiptsThe instant recognition of a receipt's visual language makes it an ideal subject matter to use and manipulate.I have allowed odd words and mistakes to enter the text, both consciously and subconsciously. Sometimes the changes are subtle and other times the text is replaced entirely. The very raison d'etre of a receipt is a record, and amongst the mundane, overlooked and often incomprehensible information is hidden my own errant thoughts. The pieces become a record of purchase and the time of making; overheard conversation, song lyrics, extracts from the book I was reading and observations all feature.BruisesMy bruises are a documentation of these imperfections that result from various instances.I bruise easily and often have no recollection of creating them. However, a bruise in itself is a small trauma; insignificant in the grand scheme of things but important within it's own capacity. In taking the bruise out of a bodily context I wanted to change the way it was read, making it easy to miss to everyone but me. LettersThese come from a collection of notes and letters I have received, some significant and others saved mostly as a result of a hoarding nature.I am fascinated by handwriting and how it varies with the individual. Graphology, the study and analysis of handwriting, is about as reliable as horoscopes. However I have studied the various rules and features and developed my own 'reports' which reveal the personalities on the writer based solely on their handwriting. This presented some challenges when things seem to fit very well to various characters.I am interested in how we form letters so erratically and without order but when formed into a handwritten word it becomes readable. This is the case in Western writing, but not, for example in Chinese script.These pieces are about the writers of the originals, whether represented in signature or a section of the content. Again the devotional aspect of embroidery was so important here, each piece created felt like a tribute. This was interesting as the writers all played very varied roles in my life, some being important and permanent, while others featured for comparatively short glimpses.