Hannah Murray II

A giant pin cushion heart was another element of Hannah Murray's degree show at Aberdeen resulting from a chance discovery of sweetheart pincushions.

"Created during the First World War by soldiers recuperating in military hospitals, sweetheart pincushions were made primarily as a way of passing the time, but were also sent home as tokens to wives and sweethearts. The delicacy of their creation belies the fact that they are made by soldiers, the tiny, intimate stitching and intricate bead work a stark and sobering contrast to the  sheer brutality  of  war. (see example below)

Charged with a poignancy by the circumstances of their giving, unlike anything which I have held onto, the impact they have goes beyond that of the receiver, touching to those coming across them generations later. Many were made out of scraps of fabrics and material, others from kits made up for military hospitals; all were sent as tokens, reminders of love. They embody the intimacy - the delicacy - which can be found in human relationships and which I hope, through my artwork, to further explore." Hannah Murray