‘Fish out of water’

I wanted them to look ambiguous, like river lurkers from a quiet world we humans don’t understand.

Connections, 2024
Photographs by Alice Blackstock 

Designed for an outdoor public art trail these two river lurkers represent the most common fish that swim in the river Lagan, brown trout and salmon. They where knitted on a double bed machine using reclaimed Irish linen from a disused textile mill in Belfast. The distinct spots, gills and eyes are hand appliquéd and where deliberately stylised, inspired by Japanese woodcut images of fish. The threads from the making process where left uncut adding to the ambiguous feeling of mystical creatures pulled from murky water. They where displayed on the Noah Donohoe bridge over the river Lagan in Belfast as part of the Connections exhibition.