March 2021

March is the month of my brothers birth so a joy for me personally, the time of year my best friend was born and days getting longer! Its the 31st of March, here I am writing my introduction and other paragraphs. My parents requested a Hanecdote puzzle because they heard it can help with brain health and I had a lot of fun designing it full of skulls hearts and hands. It was even more fun to make because it was challenging, satisfying and addictive! I’ll have them available to buy once the kickstarter rewards have been fulfilled! I also got my first public art commission which will be on a street in London very soon, but preparing for it has consumed me for the past twoish weeks and that has eaten into my newsletter time. I dont put pressure on myself to make these newsletters long, but this month was extremely emotionally draining and i feel a duty to inform about the current situation we’re living in here in the UK. 

The Tory government are violent liars who have been pushing their authoritarian police state violence upon so many of us for years and theyre cracking down using the pandemic as an excuse for extreme police powers.

Today the government released a report saying there is no institutional racism in the country, not only that but they think the UK should be a global inspiration for a good multicultural society. Meanwhile this morning school kids in Pimlico were protesting the racist school uniform rules banning colourful hijabs and Afro hairstyles. 

On top of that they tried to say that there is positivity that came out of the slave trade. Theyre gaslighting, lying whatever you want to call it and its so draining. They are straight up lying about historical facts. They said our efforts to decolonise the curriculum is “extreme activism” and maybe our problems come from our own communities.

I randomly found myself looking at the notes on Tumblr from my Arthur meme late at night. What a place of joy, my heart genuinely melted seeing so many different perspectives and impacts my lil meme still make on people. 

I remember receiving death threats and people wishing cancer upon me when i posted this in 2016.... it really got to me. Now i genuinely laugh because the few people that try to be a smartarse about it and demean it...but realistically they know nothing about the history of art or textiles and so i cant take the negativity seriously. The cultural impact was like nothing else and cannot be denied. 

In 2016 all kinds of mainstream, feminist and independent platforms wrote about sexism in the western art world, starting global conversations about textiles and other mediums in art and the exclusion of many makers. 5 years later people write their whole dissertations (in multiple languages) about my meme, essays and chapters written about my works...

Is it weird to say I feel lucky to have made this piece?

March has seen longer days but a shorter temper for me. All my emotions about 10+ years of medical misdiagnosis and general medical sexism has built up while in a global pandemic and i just reached my limit physically and mentally. Dealing with multiple chronic pain issues which prevent me from functioning on a daily basis plus trying to get an ADHD diagnosis...its just a lot for me to cope with. 

My hands have been giving me pain since 2018 and i still have no idea what causes it. 

I have to bath now (which i find so boring) but i don't have the energy to shower. Mums had to help me with my laundry which Ive done since i was 13 so it felt like i couldn't ask for help. I cant empty the dishwasher (which was the only chore i was left to do to help around the house) because my back is getting worse and worse. I couldn't remember the last time i brushed my teeth because everything hurts, holding cutlery to eat hurts my hand and then my arm gets tired feeding myself. Daily care is difficult and whatever energy I have i want to use to make art. 

Mums been helping me keep on top of my laundry, and reminding me about brushing my teeth. I had a phone call with the Rheumatologist and i feel hopeful that i will get treatment soon (this year) so I am feeling like there are lots of positive change in my future. As i continue to have regular baths to soak my body, I think of this artwork by a huge inspiration, Frida Kahlo. 

Frida Kahlo’s piece titled What the Water Gave Me was painted in 1938. This painting combines many references to Frida Kahlo’s previous works, showing the visual language she used to illustrate her art. This is something I also consider when making art, there are many motifs which you will see repeatedly although they often represent different things. Skulls are something I have always drawn, and has been part of my logo since the beginning of Hanecdote. I have included a page from a book sent to me by a lovely person in Arizona, which shows the many references to her previous paintings and drawings. 

The police ruled that they did a good job in the face of “public disrespect”, with the violent way they treated people gathering at Sarah Everard’s vigil. Priti Patel said we should not be swayed by footage we have seen of repeated police violence. Its one rule for princess kate who came to the vigil without a mask and another rule for the women uniting against gendered state violence. 

This treatment has lead to people across the country in different cities taking to the streets to protest Kill The Bill. They have been injuring people, arresting journalists and lying that officers suffered broken bones. Meanwhile thousands of anti-mask people were happily escorted across London by the police. 

I have written about the background of these events in more detail on my instagram so click each picture to read further about what has lead to these protests.

We’ve been so excited waiting for the Kickstarter Reward goodies to arrive from various suppliers and theres still more to come! We’ve got cozy blankets, reward stickers, School of He(art) pencils and supplies for the Mini Embroidery Starter Kits! We will start shipping out rewards to the wonderful people who backed the campaign very soon, in the meantime you can follow the project here.