Art with heart
Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:16:00 BST
Textile student Leigh’s thought-provoking project to raise awareness of her little niece’s rare ailment
STUDENT Leigh Bowser (pictured) is determined to raise awareness of the rare illness that afflicts her toddler niece and she is doing it the way she knows best – using her textile craft skills to produce thought-provoking artworks.
Leigh’s niece Chloe, aged 2, suffers from Diamond Blackfan Anaemia (DBA). It means that she needs blood transfusions every few weeks and not until she is ten can she receive chemo-therapy and a bone marrow transplant. She is one of just 700 known victims of the ailment in the world.
Leigh, aged 22 and from Sunderland, is in the final year of her textile craft studies at the University of Huddersfield. A heart condition means she is unable to donate blood to Chloe. So, eager to support her niece, she has devised what she calls the Blood Bag Project. The goal is to produce large numbers of individualised textile objects in the shape of blood bags. They have no function, being purely works of art.
Contributors to the project download a template from the project’s website – www.wix.com/leighlalovesyou/thebloodbagproject – but apart from having to retain the shape and size of a blood bag they can give free rein to their imagination.
And the scheme has caught people’s imaginations around the world. For example, Leigh has been contacted by a teacher in Australia who intends to involve one of her classes in the project.
Also, Leigh has been in touch with Jennifer Marsh, the US-based founder of Dream Rocket, who is a top authority on textile art projects.
Eventually, Leigh aims to mount an exhibition of the textile blood bags – her own and those from contributors – and will also sell the unusual objects, dividing the proceeds between the National Blood Service and the Anthony Nolan Trust.
While launching the Blood Bag Project, Leigh is also devising her final degree show. This too will draw inspiration from niece Chloe, taking the shape of an interactive exhibition combining scientific information about Diamond Blackfan Anaemia with textile art.
Leigh’s unusual range of textile techniques and influences extends to her work as an illustrator and portraitist. She uses a sewing machine to create the outlines of her pictures.
