Embracing Change: A Personal Reflection on Creativity and Loss
Embracing Change: Creativity and Loss
Lately, my work has been shifting in ways I didn’t quite expect. Textiles—something that’s threaded through my life since childhood—have quietly stepped forward. What once felt like a side practice is becoming a place of refuge, clarity, and new ideas.
These past five years have been full of doubt. Grief has been a large part of that. Losing my mum, my brother, other family members, and several dear art friends has reshaped the way I move through the studio. They were the voices that showed up, asked questions, came to openings, and cared deeply about the work. Their absence has felt heavy, and some days the act of making feels both fragile and far away. But I also know that the people I’ve lost would want me to keep creating—quietly, gently, in whatever way I can. Even sitting in the studio slowly stitching with no plan is still a kind of movement forward.
A few connections below to artworks made in past 5 years.
There are mornings when I feel eager and ready, and others where simply walking into the studio brings a rush of emotion I didn’t expect—hesitation, stage fright, even tears. Grief has its own timing, and it changes the rhythm of creativity. Its getting easier for me as time moves on and I’m forever grateful of the patience and love of my immediate family and spending time with them has really helped..
If you’re navigating your own version of this—please know you’re not alone. Creativity asks us to keep showing up, even in the smallest ways. Thank you for being here and for supporting this unfolding chapter.
Some of my nocturnal collages since 2020
If you’re drawn to pieces that carry themes of renewal, and transformation, you might like exploring:
Click on links below
Stained cloth and textile works — pieces that hold the imprint of time, touch, and slow evolution.
Mixed-media artworks — where fragments come together to create something unexpected and new.
Rusted paintings and healing — paintings that speak to endurance, decay, and quiet strength
Recent textile sculpture in progress — gentle, intuitive pieces shaped by repetition and healing
With gratitude,
Jenny