You Should Keep It For A Christening Gown | 2026

For this project I was interested the way motherhood is portrayed as a natural, or even essential, part of womanhood across many different cultures. Historical, societal, religious and media influences can reinforce these expectations, causing many women who choose not to, or who are unable to have children to feel they are ‘lacking’.

This expectation manifested in my own experience after I got married. Various well-meaning people suggested I keep my wedding dress to use for making a Christening gown for my first baby. Each ‘square’ of the weave represents the days since I got married, and have felt that expectation in one way or another.

This piece was a reflection on the notion of creativity for women as both a biological possibility, and as the capacity to imagine, influence and build outside of motherhood.