Meltdown
In this work, I had inherited some ‘family silver’. I chose to rework it into new heirlooms, embedding them with guidance and support to pass on to my young daughter.
new heirloom
Supported by a CuratorSpace bursary, the work emerged from my involvement with the Silver Spoons Collective, a group of over 30 women making work about the ‘burning times’ when thousands were persecuted as witches. The work was displayed as part of the Silver Spoons exhibition, held in Lancaster in January 2022.
TRANSFORMING INHERITED OBJECTS
The silver heirlooms represent for me something about inheritance – beyond just the objects themselves, but the extractive, colonial culture represented by the idea of passing down expensive metals mined from who-knows-where. On one of the items, a silver Rowing Cup, is inscribed the name of Huggins, which is also the name of one of my ancestors who became Governor of Rhodesia – now Zimbabwe.
CO-CREATING CULTURAL SHIFTS
These silver objects represent not only my history but that of the UK and its relationship with the world, particularly over the last 150 years. By melting and reforging these objects, I want to embody what I have learnt about solidarity, collectivism and ancestral healing into a set of heirlooms that I can share with the next generation, inviting new cultural modes of being and relating as a signal of moving into globalised equity and belonging.
The new heirloom objects include items representing honesty, trust, collective practice, equity and justice. They are stored in a velvet lined case and will become my daughter’s possession upon my death. My imaginary for the future is that they are passed on for 7 further generations by inheritance or gift.
Get in touch
- sarah@sarahdixon.studio
- Top Floor, Piccadilly Mill West, off Lower Street, Stroud GL5 2HT
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