Exhibition entry no 25

Family Life’ (2025 ongoing) consists of collating multiple initials and acronyms of ‘care’ used by Social Care, Local Authority, Education, Health and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services with some families; and scoring them into wood. These initials are incomprehensible to many, yet may be instantly recognizable to those with lived experience of trying to get support for a family in crisis. Kolrosing is the traditional Scandinavian technique of finely decorating wood using cuts filled with pigment that are then burnished closed. Instead of the beautifully smooth illustrations with cinnamon or coffee as pigments that are more commonly associated with Kolrosing, I have been working on uneven, textured surfaces of discarded pieces of wood with black salt as the pigment, which whispers of wounds and quickly blunts tools. There is no possibility of ‘mastery’ of these words and systems as they are too numerous. This new project is concerned with representing the complexities of adoptive families in crisis with a wider backdrop of a crisis in care in the UK (Care Collective, 2020; Dowling, 2021). Within this context, the domestic ‘private’ stresses faced everyday by families with lived experiences of trauma can be hidden and unsupported with devastating consequences. Yet understandings of families’ needs with care experienced young people at their heart is limited, with parents being failed or blamed if it becomes necessary to transition into parenting at a distance (Kendal et al, 2025). Through an exploration of wood; a signifier of strength, support and nature but with circling narratives of climate collapse, a material vocabulary is being developed that can express ambivalence, overwhelm, trauma and unspeakability within the context of failing care systems for care experienced young people and their families. Balanced on this kolrosed piece is a hand carved tiny spoon. Pointing to small acts of creativity and grounding through working with wood.