Virginia

February 23, 2026

Hand stitched paper to cloth collage, 2022.

30 x 26cm, unframed.

Discarded paper (cut from newspapers during January 2022) hand-stitched to Dad’s shirt. Sewn, using Judith Cash’s old thread, to acid-free watercolour paper from a charity shop.

Face: Virginia Guiffre. Getty*. Metro 27.1.22. Article by Dominic Yeatman about Virginia Guiffre accusing Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of sexually abusing her when she was 17, and her lawyer saying, ‘We look forward to confronting Prince Andrew with his denials and attempts to blame Ms Guiffre for her own abuse’. The Windsors later paid £12m for an out-of-court settlement. In 2025 she took her own life, at the age of 41. “I am making it publicly known that in no way, shape or form am I suicidal. I have made this known to my therapist and doctor. If something happens to me – for the sake of my family do not let this go away and help me to protect them. Too many evil people want to see me quieted.” Virginia Guiffre.

Red military uniform with medals and hat: Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. Getty*. iPaper 28.1.22. Article by David Parsley and Joe Duggan about how Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s legal team are attempting to have the above case thrown out of court on the grounds that Virginia Giuffre is a resident of Australia. In order for the case to take place in the US, at least one of the people involved must live there.

Green-sleeved arm: Novak Djokovic. AFP via Getty*. Metro 10.1.22. Article by David Gurney about the tennis player being kicked out of Australia, and the Open, for his refusal to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

Straight leg: From a photo Madonna posted on Instagram*, showing her bruised leg, amongst other things. Metro 14.1.22. Article, speculating about how the bruise was acquired and how ‘loose and limber’ Madonna looks at 63, by Tom Stichbury.

Hand with dog: Boris Johnson. PA/ Reuters*. Metro 25.1.22. Article by Joel Taylor about a birthday party held for Boris Johnson during the first lockdown, despite rules banning indoor social events. It showed a picture of BJ jogging with his dog, Dilyn.

Rest of body: Jude Hill as Buddy in ‘Belfast’, a 2021 film written and directed by Kenneth Branagh, which follows a young boy's childhood in Belfast at the beginning of ‘The Troubles’ in 1969. Cinematography by Hans Zambarloukos. Film advert. iPaper 21.1.22.

The articles are below. Some of them are hard to read. Apologies.

*The photo credits are as they appear in the articles from which the faces were cut. For the record, I don’t accept the name of a company as a photography credit. There was an actual person behind the camera. If you are that person, or know them, please give me a shout. Also, the information in the articles may be fabricated.

Getty*. iPaper 28.1.22. Article by David Parsley and Joe Duggan.

Getty*. Metro 27.1.22. Article by Dominic Yeatman. Sorry for the bad photo quality, I no longer have the newspaper.

Getty*. Metro 27.1.22. Article by Dominic Yeatman.

AFP via Getty*. Metro 10.1.22. Article by David Gurney.

PA/ Reuters*. Metro 25.1.22. Article by Joel Taylor.

Cinematography by Hans Zambarloukos. Film advert. iPaper 21.1.22.

Unseated

August 27, 2023

Made as a response to Claire Mort’s Brave Pants project.

I like cutting Picasso, and I thought it would be fun to pull Fernande Olivier out of that chair and give her some knickers. She looked so miserable.

An artist in her own right, Olivier was the daughter of a married man and ‘his mistress’. Raised by an abusive aunt, who arranged her marriage, she fled to Paris at nineteen, changing her name so her husband couldn’t find her.

Picasso (“Each time I leave a woman, I should burn her”) used to lock her in the studio.

54. Unseated, 2022.

Hand-stitched paper/canvas collage.

46 x 37.5cms, framed*

Body cut from an image of Femme Assise (Fernande Olivier) by Pablo Picasso, 1908. Oil on canvas. 150 x 100cms. The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (below).

Big pants cut from an image of Kate Moss wearing a leotard by Julien Fournié. Mert and Marcus for Paris Vogue, 2011.

Feet of Kate Moss. Shoe designer unknown (any help much appreciated). Mert and Marcus for W magazine, 2005.

*Framed by Ming, 29 Chatterton Road, Bromley. Oak and 99% UV glass.

Please note that I do not reproduce physical images to stitch, but use already printed materials. The paper comes from discarded books, newspapers, magazines, calendars and the like. Most of the books I cut are beyond repair, the rest are beyond my respect.

I Have No Thoughts On This Matter

August 26, 2023

I Have No Thoughts On This Matter, 2020.

Hand-stitched textile.

35cms x 35cms, unframed.

Private Collection.

It’s about ‘good girls’ putting up and shutting up.

‘I have no thoughts on this matter’ was my mantra during 2020. At the age of 53, I had moved back to my childhood home, sharing a bed with my mother, in what turned out to be the final year of her life. I left my husband and kids and went 300 miles north. A place where I am undervalued and underestimated. Everybody else's time is more valuable than my own. It was expected of me, and I did it, losing both my jobs, pretending it didn’t matter.

For the 18 months I was there, hand stitching kept me on the right side of sane.

As always, the materials are recycled.

A friend was binning the tea towel, describing it as embarrassing, the way the middle-classes do.

The orange and blue are my husband’s old clothes.

The blue, a shirt I remember him wearing at my cousin’s wedding. I was a Bo-Peep inspired bridesmaid. The evening cèilidh was a riot. We laughed and danced our socks off, except Mr S, who sat on the side-lines, unable to make a fool of himself.

The orange, boxer shorts I bought on Christmas Eve 1991, from the Next near Charing Cross Station, London.

The red fabric, used for my signature, is an old National Portrait Gallery uniform. I worked there for 12 years. Undervalued and underestimated. The date next to it was cut from Amnesty International Magazine, Issue 206.

I Have No Thoughts On This Matter is now available as a limited edition print. The original was bought by a French woman, which I took as the greatest of compliments.

Photo by Ian Bruton.