Kin: Blood and Chosen.

It is said that feathers, especially white ones, arrive with messages from ancestors.

A collection of found and gifted feathers are bound in golden thread as a response to the whispers of hidden and forgotten ancestral lines.
Responding to uncovering unspoken family histories and deeper reconnections to names on a page.
It’s one thing to see names on a page, it’s another to understand what happened to those ancestors and why.

This project works on the vulnerability of uncovering buried, layered heritage which is likely hidden or lost due to tragedy, shame and silence.
Kiri also observes how her names bring assumptions, questions and conversation.

Binding in gold offers a chance to value, meditate, ponder on these people who are part of her existence (blood and chosen), their journeys, their joys and hardships while considering, researching and uncovering the mysteries.

Do you know where you are from?
What is family to you?
What does belonging mean to you?
What meaning is in your name?

’I acknowledge the myriad of my known and unknown ancestors (colonisers, convicts, colonised and persecuted) who travel on my shoulders, and in the same way, I acknowledge your ancestors and appreciate the difficult journeys they have taken for us to be here, now, together.’