past exhibition | Sarah-Joy Ford: HARE | 21 September - 28 October 2023

HARE

The hare makes her haste; wild, mad and free.  

She is lust and desire; her nest is in the dirt. 

She lays low in the grass and walks on the moon. 

She is fool; trickster; witch. 

Her fur is in flames; her blood is in the bowl. 

She is sacrifice and rebirth.  

She walks beside goddesses; and summons the spring. 

She is mother; maiden; crone. 

HARE is a new body of textile artworks by Sarah-Joy Ford which explores the complex role of the hare in psychoanalysis, mythology, and feminist folklore.

Through the symbolic figure of the hare, the works pull at thematic threads of desire, sacrifice, and transformation.

Through the use of craft practices traditionally associated with women - including rug tufting, quilting, embroidery, and traditional besom making – the show finds a materially resonant method for invoking and exploring the relationship between hares, women and witches.

A second show, RABBIT at Bury Gallery and Sculpture Centre, will accompany HARE in 2024.

Recent exhibitions include Quilting the Lesbian Archive See Through Gallery Manchester; Looking for Lesbians One Archives Gallery West Hollywood, Los Angeles; Beloved: crafting intimacies with the Ladies of Llangollen Plas Newydd Historic House and Gardens (2022).

Recent commissions include Embroidering Heritage Oral Histories Elizabeth Gaskell House (2023); Double Helix History Project University of Manchester; The Fabric of Science and Technology (Site Specific Textile Installation BASE: Manchester Science Park; A Tall Order (Quilt) Touchstones Rochdale; Queering the Whitworth (Manifesto Banner Quilt) The Whitworth Manchester (2022).

Sarah-Joy Ford is a graduate of University of Leeds (BA Fine Art) and Manchester School of Art (MA Textile Practice/ PhD, Fine Art and Design).

Her work is held in numerous collections including The Whitworth, Manchester; The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford; The ONE Archives, Los Angles; The V&A (Artist Book collection), London;The Bishopsgate Institute, (Rebel Dykes Collection) London.

 The private view is on Thursday 21 September 6-8pm.

Sarah-Joy Ford will be in conversation with Veronica Slater on Saturday 28 October 3pm.

Installation images: Cesare de Giglio