Rosa Daniela Diaz

Blood is Thicker than Water, explores, body, memory, matrilineal ancestry, and my cultural heritage of Uruguay, through care, reparative practice, and a feminist lens. At the heart of my practice-led research has been the honouring of my mum through the use, and transformation of her aged dressmaking pattern paper. She was diagnosed with Dementia in 2021 and I cared for her fulltime for 12mths before I had to make the difficult decision to put her into care. Caring for my mum profoundly impacted my life in both traumatic and beautiful ways. My practice gives agency to women and textiles by incorporating various ancient and contemporary textile methodologies such as looping, basketry and knitting, using repurposed materials interlaced with the dressmaking pattern paper which I make into string, to make sculptural forms. This slow and repetitive practice has given me time to reflect, repair and begin a path to healing.