TRACING LOST STORIES: Over the Skin of Silk are Scars*

This project marked the completion of my studies in the Master of Contemporary Art at VCA, School of Art, University of Melbourne. It specifically looked to trace the oral histories told by women of their backyard and illegal abortions in Melbourne, prior to the varying state law changes that began in Australia from 1969. These stories, collected in the mid 1980s, have been transcribed and recorded in the book titled Lost: Illegal Abortion Stories (2006), edited by activist Jo Wainer.
Each textile assemblage acts as a material translation of five of the women's stories and is dedicated to the women's courage to go public and their defiance against the status quo. Each small text work, tells a portion of the women's stories revealing the Melbourne locations where they lived or had their abortion and the closeness of these stories to our own existence.