Compressed Labour

2020, 151 baby-wipes, natural dyes, thread.

Kath says:

Compressed Labour tracks every single message sent from my son’s school Whatsapp group over a half term: 148 messages from the female carers and 3 from the male carers. The 151 baby-wipes were hand dipped individually in natural dyes: 148 in beetroot dye and 3 in indigo dye. Each wipe was hand pleated as tightly as possible into a long banner, then curled around each other; the emotional labour of each message being condensed so tightly to be made almost invisible.

When making this piece, I pleated them in date order so the three male messages are towards the middle of the piece recording a short exchange about homework. I dyed them using indigo, an ancient, expensive natural dye but linked to slavery and colonisation – so a complex heritage that speaks of wealth and privilege as well as the everyday dying of jeans. The 148 wipes signifying the female messages were dipped into the beetroot dye which is so essential to my practice; speaking of my Polish grandparents, of thrift, hard-work and the inherited expectations of mothering.

This piece honours the daily exchanges about homework, lost uniforms, school dinners and coronavirus anxieties. The insignificant messages which one by one add up to a weighty labour.