Curious Dolls
A collection of individual and unique hand stitched art dolls.
Mourning Dolls
The aim of the work below was to explore the themes of absence and loss through the memories of childhood. Mourning Dolls and Mourning Vessels are tangible metaphorical forms that I created to communicate the often complex emotions associated with loss. They were created as part of my Masters Degree and academically underpinned in my research using psychoanalytical frameworks and material culture theory.
‘When we experience separation, trauma or loss it can feel very much like a hole, yet our emotional attachment to what is no longer there can still be very strong.’ 
Mourning dolls 
Mourning doll triptych 
Mourning doll #1 
Mourning doll #1 
Mourning doll #1 
Mourning doll #2 
Mourning doll #2 
Mourning doll #2 
Mourning doll #3 
Mourning doll #3 
Mourning doll #4 
Mourning doll #5
Mourning Vessels
Personal Effects
Collections of objects, lost and found, gathered and curated. I bring together things that relate to the everyday. Some have personal meaning, others contain a narrative relating to previous life. Boxes protect, keeping our possessions hidden and secure. Our belongings are part of who we are, how we make sense of the world. Wax preserves and encapsulates, trapping memories with ghost like stillness. It is strong, yet fragile, and like memories can change and fade. I have always kept my treasures in boxes, even as a child I would keep collections of found objects, from old photos to pretty stones. Personal Effects is a mixed media body of work I created for my Degree that explores themes of memory and identity. By recreating everyday objects I aimed to remove them from their original state into the realm of memory. Memories are only a representation of what was. They are ephemeral, fugitive and imperfect.
Found, collected and curated. Everyday objects become extensions of our emotional lives. 
Boxes protect, keeping our possessions hidden and safe. Wax preserves and encapsulates, capturing memories with ghost like stillness. 
Personal effects 
Personal effects 
Personal effects – Lockets 
Wax preserves and wrapping protects. Everyday objects that are so intrinsic to our identity, we don’t see them until we are no longer there.
Other works
A small collection of two and three dimensional mixed media work.
Capturing the moment. 
A shrine to everyday life. A house within a house. Decorated with the everyday happenings of life. 
Hand stitchery 
Textile cuff made using reclaimed vintage fabrics and hand dyed silk. Hand stitched and embellished with mother of pearl buttons and river found ceramics. 
Textile tin shack inspired by perambulations in urban edgelands. 
Mixed media double sided concertina sample book. 
Mixed media double sided concertina sample book.
Cheryl Hewitt 