Artist Kathrina Hughes’s childhood was steeped in the quiet rhythms of rural life, growing up on a farm in the west of Ireland. The fields tilled by her father with horse-drawn machinery, a land which had been in his family for generations and for which he cared with skill and patience. The history and the generations of lives woven into the soil, as described in Jane Clarke’s poem “Crossings”, resonated with Kathrina as a journey across time, space and the beauty of the land she called home. The poem is formed by listing possible crossings and pathways created by man and beast across the land, the marks we make …

...a gap in a hawthorn hedge
stepping stones in a stream
an oak log slick with frost
a three-arch masonry bridge
a cow path down to a river ...

Crossings, Jane Clarke

Kathrina made two pieces in response to the poem. She used silk noil fabric eco dyed into muted earth tones in ‘Crossings I’. The work is an emotional bridge between past and present, where each meditative stitch carries the weight of memory. Originally planned as a flat piece, the work was manipulated into contours and hollows, like the furrows her father plowed. The fabric subtly shifts and moves creating the illusion of flow and change, of time unfolding.

For “Crossings II” Kathrina used rust-dyed cotton organdie, a delicate, translucent fabric, chosen for its ability to evoke a way of seeing through the surface to what lies beyond. The fabric was dyed using rusted nails, old tools and forgotten objects wrapped in bundles and dipped in tea. The process was slow, allowing the natural elements to leave their mark on the fabric over days or even weeks. There is something profound about the passage of time in this process, the anticipation of what will be revealed, the careful unwrapping of the bundles to see what marks have been left by nature, just as the marks of time have been left on the land.

‘Crossings II’, Kathrina Hughes

Once the fabric was washed and dried, Kathrina used gold metallic thread and to further embellish it. The Cretan stitch was used as a metaphor for crossing, as it is formed by continually crossing threads to create a pattern, a perfect symbol for the journeys we make in life, the pathways we navigate and obstacles we face. The organdie is held in place using specimen pins, which leaves it floating in the frame.

Kathrina’s father had a shed, a workspace, a refuge just like the one described in Jane’s poem, ‘Harness Room’. It contained the tools he needed to mend farm machinery and fix household items, a sacred place where tools worn down by years of use were still wiped clean of oil and grease after a long day’s work on the farm. On rainy days, it became a playroom for childhood imagination to flourish. Kathrina’s mother would roll out a rug on the concrete floor and the children would transform the space and the tools in it, into their sanctuary of play and warmth.

The old dresser, where her father stored small items, holds a special place in Kathrina’s heart and this piece, ‘Harness Room’, is an homage to the cacophony of nails, screws, washers, twine and bits and pieces that lay there. The rust impressions on the fabric symbolise the wear and tear of time, each piece of material placed carefully is an echo of the patience and care her father showed in his work. Each stitch is a tribute to his dedication, to the family history associated with the shed and to the importance of the objects that help shape our lives.

‘Planting Trees’ is the fourth piece Kathrina has made for this exhibition, this time in response to the poem of the same name. Her father’s strength of connection to the land and the trees and hedgerows planted there is mirrored in the poem. Even in the face of illness he continued to care for his farm, the animals and his family. His strength and resilience has left an indelible mark on her memory. Kathrina used natural elements, time and patience to create designs on the cotton base fabric. Leaves and foliage, rolled in cotton, tied into bundles and steamed, allowing their imprint to soak through. Some prints emerge bold and defined while others appear more subtle, like whispers of memory.

Block printing and screen printing were used for the tree shapes, along with applique, machine and hand stitch. Again Kathrina sees the stitching as a metaphor for the intricate, interwoven connections between generations and the land – the threads that tie one moment in time to the next.

... He's unable to move from his bed,
but when we ask about the row of beech
beside the bridge, he's clear as a bell,
my father's father's father planted them ...
... Tomorrow, I'll get dressed,
we'll go down to see them again.

Planting Trees, Jane Clarke

Thank you to Kathrina for sharing the background to her work. Thanks to Jane Clarke for her collaboration and to her publisher, Bloodaxe Books, for permission to use her poems. Thanks also to the OPW for the opportunity to exhibit and Kildare County Council for funding through the Arts Act Grant.

To see these works up close and personal, visit the exhibition ROOTS, a dialogue in textile and poetry, in the Coach House Gallery, Dublin Castle. Open 7 days a week, 10 am – 5 pm, closed for lunch 1.15 – 1.45 p.m. Jane’s books are now available in the gift shop in Chester Beatty Library next to the Coach House Gallery.