Domestic Bliss

Materials: copper mesh, vitreous enamel, found spoons, silk ribbon

Size: 410mm x 140mm x 130mm (When held as a marionette)

With the COVID-19 restrictions slowly being lifted resulting in a greater freedom of movement and the ability to meet with family and friends, I have discovered that my experience of the home as a place of security and comfort has been radically different to others. For some, the difficulties of being ‘shut-in’, of job loss or instability and financial insecurity has led to tensions in the home and domestic violence has become higher than in previous years.  With this in mind, I created Domestic Bliss a teacup marionette showing substantial wear and distress suspended with pink silk ribbons from vintage spoons by pink silk ribbons highlighting the trauma that some have experienced in domestic settings as one more powerful partner dominates the other, controlling of their physical or emotional states and making them unable to freely distance from their abuser.