I was one of the four artists selected for the ‘My Artful Way’ commission. 

The whole project and the works of others can be read about and viewed here.

My piece took its inspiration from my wish to discover more about the industrial textile industry of Carlisle, with a particular focus on Dixon’s Mill at Shaddongate, where in the nineteenth century, cloth was made for enslaved people to wear, during the nineteenth century. These links to the Slave Trade are not widely recognised. 

My walk followed the defunct canal route from Carlisle to Port Carlisle, from where cloth made at Dixon’s Mill would be shipped to America to be worn by enslaved people on the plantations.

CONTENT WARNING: Please note that elements of this art piece and the stories that it refers to may be upsetting or triggering. The content on the following link includes themes of trauma, Carlisle’s connection to the exploitation of enslaved people, and suicide.