This is my PhD Quilt. I made this using scraps of material and found objects, during a period of transition between submitting my completed thesis and my viva voce examination. The act of sourcing objects, cutting and sewing material and representing my PhD in physical symbols acted as a sort of ‘coping mechanism’ during a somewhat transitory period of time. The decision to make a quilt that told a story of my PhD emerged from my anxieties around wanting to stay connected to the conceptual content of my thesis, post submission, whilst simultaneously ‘recovering’ from writing and my desire to engage in a creative activity that was simply enjoyable and removed from text-centric material. I was inspired to make this by Dr Ann Rippin (Bristol University) – she is a fabulous ‘Academic Quilter’ …and also inspired me to share my creative work and research on WordPress: www.annjrippin.wordpress.com thanks Ann!
I’m presenting a paper on my PhD Qulit, called ‘Creative practices during periods of transition…or ‘stitching myself back together and sewing together my thesis’ at the SCOS 2012 Barcelona conference in July…and am looking forward to seeing some of my fellow ‘Scossers’ there!
