Alison Lowry

As an artist I am interested in textiles, especially clothing. Fabric preserves the essence of its maker; it can act as a vessel for memory and leaves a trace of the wearer as it physically contacts their body.

An embroidered christening robe that has been in my family for nearly a hundred years has inspired my most current body of work. The original wearers of the robe are now dead and the most recent wearer is not yet a year old. Through this work I am examining my family links and our ties to the past. I am also trying to convey how fragile and delicate life is and how the states of birth and death can be similar.

My work is about the process of making and I use materials and techniques that I feel ‘fit’ what I am trying to say. My fascination with glass stems from its ability to convey artistic expression. I feel the contradictions inherent in glass- fragile/hard, delicate/robust complement what I am saying about the nature and complexity of the human condition.