Knot of Breath
Textile Tea Cup
“How you die out in me:
down to the last worn-out
knot of breath you're there, with a splinter of life.”Paul Celan (1920-1970)
Dimensions: 120mm x 80mm x 80mm
Materials: Vintage linen and lace table runner
As I struggle with the continuing lockdown, I am care-worn and heavy, burdened by the losses witnessed in rising tallys and the lack of family embrace. I feel paper-thin and as frail as this linen, battered by the ravages of time and use. The textile survives as a memory of its past, held together by new thread to create an echo of a time of elegance and gentility. It has been given a second chance – the linen table runner has finished its race but there is a knot of breath, a splinter of life in the linen yet, and from the time-worn, emerges a new form.