Sera Waters SPECTRE FOLK

Artist Statement

The work of Spectre Folk dwells upon relics from Australia’s settler past using age-old embroidery and textile methods in order to invoke the many ghosts and untold histories we live with but do not always openly acknowledge. The threadbare, stained, spoiled and fragmented hold clues about these pasts and the (often destructive) ways of making home in this faraway land. Each artwork has been developed from investigations into my own settler family history beginning in South Australia from 1838 –findings from an archaeological dig, nineteenth century photographs, generational anecdotes and deductive imaginings – yet speaks broadly to the collective and ongoing impact of colonisation, as well as the challenges and wonders to be found here. I particularly work through evoking patterns (habits, decoration, daily routines) to try to understand how my female ancestors reconciled tales of exterior happenings with their interior domestic worlds through repetitive crafting and acts of care.