Following on from my tutor’s suggestion, I have added a “Patient Information Leaflet” to my capsule box the contents of which I have included below. As recommended I have also added images of work which was inspiration for my samples together with the finished sample to better link my work with that of textile artists.
Patient Information Leaflet
Sweet Dreams

Design Notes
A species of petunia “Night Sky” have been enclosed in pouches created from the word “Amitriptyline” which is a muscle relaxant. The thread colour is a tone taken from the passionflower which has similar natural properties. The technique used is similar to that used to make weighted blankets for those with disabilities A luxurious appearing font was chosen to contrast with the necessity of the medication and medical aides. The dried flowers are intentionally orientated randomly to suggest tossing and turning when you cannot sleep.
Inspiration Sources
Inspired by the work of Susie Freeman and her idea of enclosing items within fabrics. In particular her work Raw Materials uses the leaves, roots and flowers that form the basis of many medicines.

Support Network

Design Notes
Constructed from lines of medication names repeatedly machine stitched to represent the endless repetition of a medication regime. The colours used for each drug name were chosen to match a colour from a plant with a similar medicinal property:
- Amitriptyline – purple inspired by passionflowers
- Esomeprazole – green inspired by sage and peppermint
- Naproxen – yellow inspired by chamomile and feverfew
- Hydrocortisone – orange was chosen to coordinate with the rest of the colour scheme and match the packaging of the drugs as the main plants that stimulate the adrenal gland are borage and liquorice which weren’t used in the still life.
Inspiration Sources
A number of artists such as Eileen Harrison who incorporate text into their health related textiles.

Jaundiced Luxuriance

Design Notes
Cotton fabric hand dyed to match the colour scheme before textile transfer medium was used to apply health and disability related text to the surface. The fabric was cut into a square on the bias. The fabric was then shell tucked in lines at right angles to create the impression of tiny petals similar to those of the feverfew plant.
Inspiration Sources
Artists such as Michael James use hand dyeing and printed text such as in his work A Strange Riddle 2 (2002).
Botanical Liberation

Design Notes
100% organic cotton jersey was coloured using Procion dye before being layer with a white undyed layer. Flowers and petals inspired by the feverfew sketch were stitched before the excess was cut away revealing the coloured layer beneath. A mixture of seed beads were hand stitched to the centres inspired by the flowers. As the petals fall away the beading becomes more dense creating a three dimensional effect that, by the time all the petals are gone, looks like a collection of pills.
Inspiration Sources
The idea of the pharmaceutical industry concentrating the active ingredients from natural sources into medications. Sewing techniques were inspired by the fashion design house Alabama Chanin.

https://journal.alabamachanin.com/2019/10/new-the-starter-poncho-kit/
Latent Dilemma

Design Notes
Created from red 100% organic cotton jersey, hand printed with mathematical symbols in yellow acrylic mixed with textile medium. These symbols represent the “hidden” decisions made every day when you have a long term health condition. The stitching disguises the decisions to create a textile that appears very structured and yet has a subtle floral element where each individual unit is slightly different much like nature and how every day of living with a condition can vary.
Inspiration Sources
The stitching technique to create this floral texture was used by Giorgio Armani in the Fall/Winter 2011/2012 Ready to wear collection.

https://www.vogue.it/en/shows/show/fw-11-12-ready-to-wear/giorgio-armani?refresh_ce=
Genetic Stock

Design Notes
A handwoven fabric using a commercial acrylic yarn as the warp for strength. All the weft threads were hand spun from wool inspired by the colour scheme of the project. By not compacting the weave too firmly, the warp thread looks similar to the stitch marks of “Botanical Liberation” As this was created on a basic tapestry loom, it was only possible to weave a 20cm wide strip so two strips were woven. For the second strip the colours were reversed before the two sections were sewn together to add further interest. The fact that both my spinning and weaving are not entirely even adds to the individuality of the piece and represents the individuality of patients.
Inspiration Sources
My NHS barcode has been encoded into the weave to suggest patients being associated with commercial commodities. Stripes are also used on the awareness ribbon for my genetic condition. Lindsay Obermeyer (2016-) Medicine Man also used stripes in her work though hers used a beading technique.

For Christmas I was given a brooch by a Spanish friend made by Dani Dimitrova which had a striking similarity to one of my yarn samples as shown in the photo below. Combined with inspiration from Lindsay Obermeyer (2016-) Medicine Man I decided to redesign the way I packaged and displayed the mini pill samples I made. These were originally inspired as miniature needle felted versions of my own tablets and work by Laura Splan‘s Placebo .

I wanted to use this textile that looks like torn foil as it is reminiscent of used tablet packaging.
Given that I had been working with silk cocoons and using them to represent pills in Part Five of the course, it was a complete coincidence that a friend from Spain sent me a brooch as a Christmas present made by Dani Dimitrova. Her bio roughly translates (thanks to google translate) as:
I am Dani Dimitrova. After going through a wide variety of work experiences, I have decided to dedicate myself to what I am really passionate about and makes me feel good. I am a textile creator and I have a small silk painting workshop. Artisan of the Community of Madrid Registration Number: S-1/785 I also belong to the Association of Textile Creators of Madrid. At every moment my main support is my son and my husband. I am positive, patient and deeply in love with nature.
https://www.danidimitrova.com/autora
She creates a variety of products such as silk scarves, fans as well as small fashion and decoration accessories. She says “I like to make elegant, different and special pieces and I want my clients to feel exactly like this at the time of wearing them.“

As can be seen in the photo above there was even a purple one in the brooch. This gave me the idea at redesign how I presented the small tablet representations. Initially I considered using this foil material purchased from Hobbycraft to create a similar base for the pills. I liked the idea of the foil looking broken as this is similar to how the foil becomes broken and distorted when you remove tablets from their packaging.

On reflection, I wanted to make a stronger link with the medicinal theme and so created a similar base which had a shape more akin to the small cups used to dispense medication.

The image below is a close up of the ‘pill container’ I created.

This final image shows the evolution of the design elements placed together.

[All links accessed on 19/01/2020]
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