Sophie Adams Tied up in the past: navigating ancestral knots

My artwork explores my feelings about my Czech heritage and how people gain identity through their heritage. In carving my wooden puppet I was literally shaping its identity, but it also became a visual metaphor of cultural memories that pass through time and influence who we are. The costuming of the puppet in pyjamas, embossed with the iconic Czech vernacular, visually represents the retrieval process by which folklore can be handed down. The letters and wood shavings in the small ‘identity’ boxes record the complexity and perseverance inherent in the crafting process.

Influencing artists: Julie Barratt, Chris Sickels