LA MER À BOIRE (2024-)
dye sublimation on textile, cotton thread
dye sublimation on textile, cotton thread
EN / FR
In November 24th, 2021, a boat carrying 30 migrants sank in the English Channel while attempting to cross from France to the United Kingdom. Twenty-seven people were found dead, two survived, and one was never found. LA MER À BOIRE features testimony from survivor Mohammed Ibrahimzadeh, embroidered in Sorani Kurdish over textile prints of the English Channel. This testimony, miraculously captured by journalist Zinar Shino mere hours after the disaster, describes his harrowing experience, plus the utter failure—and active, mocking neglect—of French and British authorities to respond to calls for aid.
For this semi-hidden and layered story, I chose a reflective working process of care. Embroidery demands time, attention, and a focusing in: to be close to the detail of a moment, to be suspended in the intimacy of each word. These pieces lived with me for weeks, as I stitched the prints on my lap, pulling the sea through my hands. The ephemeral fabrics layer and ebb over each other, revealing the webs of threads behind. In the absence of a formal archive, the water is situated as witness: serving not only as a reliquary of the lives lost, but as a repository of their memories.
In November 24th, 2021, a boat carrying 30 migrants sank in the English Channel while attempting to cross from France to the United Kingdom. Twenty-seven people were found dead, two survived, and one was never found. LA MER À BOIRE features testimony from survivor Mohammed Ibrahimzadeh, embroidered in Sorani Kurdish over textile prints of the English Channel. This testimony, miraculously captured by journalist Zinar Shino mere hours after the disaster, describes his harrowing experience, plus the utter failure—and active, mocking neglect—of French and British authorities to respond to calls for aid.
For this semi-hidden and layered story, I chose a reflective working process of care. Embroidery demands time, attention, and a focusing in: to be close to the detail of a moment, to be suspended in the intimacy of each word. These pieces lived with me for weeks, as I stitched the prints on my lap, pulling the sea through my hands. The ephemeral fabrics layer and ebb over each other, revealing the webs of threads behind. In the absence of a formal archive, the water is situated as witness: serving not only as a reliquary of the lives lost, but as a repository of their memories.
