While creating her artwork as part of the Female Voice exhibition, Rachael Prime attended a WI camp, organised by individual WI groups across the country. Althought it wasn’t part of her original idea for the work, Rachael was pleased to create part of her piece, that focused upon the hidden stories of women workers at Norton Priory, along side fellow female members of the WI. Sharing the cyanotype techniques with other women at the camp, showing how to prepare the fabric with the lace overlays and how the chemicals reacted under the UV light. Skill sharing is a larger part of the WI and, even if accidental, Rachael was proud to be able to do this as part of her artwork.
Also as a result of exposing the fabric outside, the texture will be unique to that time and place, as the amount of UV along side the slight rain creates diffierent variables in exposing cyanotype chemicals. So the situation the work was created in, while not obvious within the finished artwork, will always be linked to the women to shared the moment of it being made.
Right Image Photo credit: Claire Pitt