mrs. williams: homage to a homemaker
melanie thompson & judith barnett
march 25 – april 29, 2019
ccbc shop & gallery
“Mrs Williams: Homage to a Homemaker” is the work of Melanie Thompson and Judith Barnett. The idea came from an old wooden recipe box given to Barnett by her elderly neighbor, Mrs Williams. Inside the box was a collection of recipes, beautifully scripted in pen and ink, which, for Thompson and Barnett, symbolized the work of a lifetime homemaker. The box engendered memories of her own childhood for Thompson; her mother having a similar recipe box and being a homemaker, spending hours of each day in the kitchen, cooking, sewing, and repairing.
celebrating women's work
Thompson and Barnett believe that “women’s work” is to be celebrated and appreciated and both practice the homemaker arts themselves.
To bring this to life they created a truly unique version of a kitchen from the 1950’s: dresses, aprons, mixing bowls and handmade books, vie for space with washing lines, an ironing board, shelving units and furniture, with re purposed materials being used throughout. This display shows a portion of the work made for the installation.
