Exhibition entry no 57

This spoon is the first thing I made with the woodcarving tools Sylva gave me after doing my first talk at a gender seminar. So it’s emblematic of their role as enablers of people of all backgrounds, and especially marginalised genders. I am always in awe of woodworkers – people who have to be the best of everything: committed, attentive, curious and humble. Nature has a way of humbling us, and even working on a little spoon, I learnt to respect the wood. In miniature, I learnt all of the above. And as someone who spends a lot of time in a busy head, connecting my mind to my body was a challenge. It only took one small nick and a lot of blood to sharpen that connection. That I am prepared to hand over my precious first spoon with mistakes highly visible is a reminder that we should always have a beginner’s mindset, and be proud to celebrate every achievement no matter how small. I’m proud my spoon is functional – it holds precisely a tablespoon (15g) of sea salt flakes. It sits on a shelf in my office, and occasionally gets to fulfil a purpose in a kitchen, and now, an exhibition. – Camilla McLean, managing director, Matthew Cox