Loss: GROUP EXHIBITION
Chichester Cathedral

LOSS was an exhibition of textile art by Jules Findley and Alice Kettle which explored the subject of loss and bereavement using a variety of media.

Kettle's works  included 'Homage to Guernica' (2011), a powerful textile piece that reinterprets Picasso's anti-war masterpiece, shifting from a bleak landscape to an industrial, radiation-damaged scene. The work features mutated children as angels, using shifting perspectives from vertical to horizontal, to symbolise war's destructive power.

'Paradise Lost' (2012) looks at loss of landscape and life in response to the Japanese Tsunami 2011, and the subsequent nuclear catastrophe. It is a work in homage to those who lost their lives. Beyond this immediate event the work makes reference to Milton’s epic narrative poem Paradise Lost.

Jules Findley made pieces that carried significant meaning: a white stitched curtain made from ripped taffeta; knitted baby clothes in black, unmade and still in pieces; and a blanket dedicated to a mother-relics of domesticity now torn apart. There was also an interactive installation in which the public were encouraged to post a loss. The haptic nature of the cloth touching the back of the hand when posting the loss gave the public a sensation of intimacy with the exhibit and highlighted the value of touch.