ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT, 2018
installation
SELECTED
Caren Garfen often makes room-sized installations, but here the diminutive nature of the work conveys a feeling of helplessness. The beds create an endless hospital ward, each one as different as every individual who is struggling with the condition. Crafts, Jan/Feb 2019
‘Room for Improvement’ was inspired by a 2017 Ch4 documentary ‘Wasting Away’, in which journalist and television presenter Mark Austin states that “there are just 202 NHS beds in the whole of the UK for children and young people with eating disorders.” He adds that the number of sufferers in the UK is thought to be 1.2 million.
This artwork consists of 202 dollshouse beds together with bedding which has been hand-stitched with researched text and motifs. The text has come from various sources, including personal accounts from people suffering from eating disorders, and from anonymous tweets on social media.
In-situ at 20/21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe
Photo credit: Kathryn Spence
In-situ at National Centre of Craft & Design
Above photos by Electric Egg, courtesy of NCCD
In-situ at MAC Birmingham as part of Ctrl/Shift, a project by The 62 Group of Textile Artists. The exhibition concept was developed in partnership with the 62 Group and independent curator Liz Cooper.
Bed 41 of 202
‘Threaded’, Envision Arts Show, International Online Gallery (1 - 31 May 2019)
The use of dollshouse beds conjures up a feeling of childhood innocence, and is a stark reminder that although disorders usually appear during adolescence, a worrying number of cases are also being seen in children as young as seven or eight.
Beds 32 & 104 of 202
The beds and text are of different sizes to emphasise scale, and to allude to sufferers often having a distorted view of their body size.
In this exhibition [Ctrl/Space] no one devoted more to the master-craftsmanship with needle and thread than Caren Garfen. Her ‘Room for Improvement' project could be marvelled at for its truly awe inspiring achievement with embroidery. Diana Springall, Aug 2018
Bed 78 of 202
Bed 159 of 202
Bed 87 of 202
Boys get eating disorders too...
Beds 184, 189 & 202 of 202
Beds 11, 39, 84, 114, 130, 164 & 182 of 202
Beds 22, 67, 180 & of 202
Measurement: 260cm x 50cm x 12cm (flexible)
Process: Hand stitch
Materials: Textile, silk threads, vintage & modern dolls house beds, wadding
Exhibited in:
Ctrl/Shift, 62 Group, MAC Birmingham, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham (2018)
Ctrl/Shift, 62 Group, The National Centre for Craft & Design, Sleaford, Lincolnshire (2019)
Image and Narrative: Illness, Recovery, Change, The University of Nottingham (A sample collection of beds) (2019)
East Midlands Mental Health Service Innovators Conference, First Steps, University of Derby (A sample collection of beds) (2019)
Ctrl/Shift, 62 Group, 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire (2019 - 2020)