Subtext: Drawing Room & Dining Room
The Blanket of Nature
Chea Smart
Textiles, acrylic paint, 2022
Displayed in the Drawing Room
Inspired by the domestic life of Jane Austen, this patchwork painted artwork represents the presence of Jane Austen. During her time of writing, she would often surround herself in a blanket to keep warm throughout the cold nights, waiting for the warm sun to shine upon the beautiful garden.
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Coal Through Our Veins
Bridget Harnett
Wood, glass, silk thread, fabric, paint, 2022
Displayed in the Drawing Room
The piece references needlework and the coal industry which Jane Austen would have experienced during her lifetime. Welsh artist Bridget Harnett experienced the fall of the coal industry during the 1980’s under Thatcherism, when women’s roles became more empowered.
Jane Austen highlighted the need for needlework alongside a desire for a more feminist role, becoming an author and writer, at a time when women had little or no standing.
Read Bridgett’s Letter to Jane ✉️
or listen to it 🎧
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Leaving a Mark
Sarah Sellers
Austen quotes, JAH tea infused paper, 2022
Displayed in the Dining Room
The work responds to a shared experience of appreciating the grandeur of nature, its relation to human life and the human experience of nature. The work draws on Austen’s use of nature to develop and evolve her characters, with the infusion of tea from Jane Austen’s House relating to her ritual of tea appreciation, thus producing an aged guise.
Read Sarah’s Letter to Jane ✉️
or listen to it 🎧