UK artist Ruth Blackford grew up the daughter of a textile designer. In the 1950’s, her mother, Constance, created print and woven textiles for interior design use such as furnishing fabrics. Constance was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 1999 and died in 2010.
Using a stitched illustration technique and samples of her mother’s patterns and imagery, Ruth creates art that tells the story of her mother’s journey though Alzheimer’s disease.
“Illustration,” Ruth says, “is a form of visual communication, using images and pictures to create messages and convey meaning. You can paint it, draw it, use it digitally. I’ve chosen to stitch it.”
To learn more about Ruth Blackford’s work, visit her website, ruthblackford.com.
"Journey Through Alzheimer's." Machine and hand stitched illustration. A series of 4 portraits, each representing a different stage of Alzheimer's disease and the emotions a sufferer might feel, from sorrow, confusion and bewilderment, distress, and anger. The final illustration suggests not only lack of memory, but also the loss of identity. Before completing this piece of work, a body of experimental work was carried out.....
"Experiment 1." Paint and pen on paper. Vigorous, scribbling lines and strong red to symbolise confusion, danger, and the struggle to make sense of the world.
"Experiment 2." Pen and Stitching on Paper. Overlapping scribbles to represent general bewilderment, and two opposite profiles to suggest not knowing which way to turn.
"Experiment 3." Pen and thread on paper. The silhouette shape, without features, was used to represent the loss of one's identity. The tangled threads again represent general inner confusion.
"Experiment 4." Machine stitching on paper and fabric. The first of my experiments to use a sewing machine to draw the figurative image. The choice of lace as a surface on which to stitch was to represent holes in the brain, and gaps in the memory. The decision to leave the ends of the threads loose and hanging tied in with the idea of things 'coming undone ' and 'unravelling' for the Alzheimer's sufferer.
"Experiment 5." Hand stitching on paper.The first of my experiments to tackle how the disease progresses, and confusion mounts in the sufferer.
"Experiment 6." Machine stitching on digitally manipulated photographs. The space on the right was left blank to suggest diminishing and finally, complete memory loss.
"Final stitched images."
"Mum." Embroidery and print on fabric. My mother suffered from Alzheimer's for 11 years. After such a long illness, it was difficult to remember her as she had been before. I therefore produced this piece of work to remind myself, and celebrate her life. My mum was a textile designer in the 1950's, and all the patterns in the piece were designed by her at that time. In later life, she was an avid embroiderer, so using embroidery techniques and presenting the individual images in embroidery hoops seemed appropriate. Each hoop represents a different aspect of her life and personality: She was a daughter, friend, wife, mother, textile and fashion designer, traveller. She was glamorous and she liked a cigarette! The outer, more abstract hoops represent her journey through Alzheimer's and represent the distress, frustration, and confusion that she suffered.
"Daughter, Sister."
"Wife."
"Mother."
"Fashoin designer."
"Glamorous."
"Traveller."
"Frustration."
"Black Hole." Writer Iris Murdoch, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1997 and died in 1999, likened the progression of Alzheimer's to "sailing into a black hole."
"Tangles."
"Finally."
