Tactile Frequencies
New Hand Lab
April 2026
A casual comment at the beginning of the residency became a key idea that I couldn’t let go of. ‘They rerouted the river to create the industry.’ Apparently common but something I’d not come across. Moving nature a bit to the left to benefit from its power. Simple. Like moving a mountain.
The wool industry that shaped the city has now left remnants everywhere. Chimneys and factories in ruin. Being consumed once again by a net of ivy. Nature taking it back.
I am really interested in this dance of power. A slow cycle that plays out over tens and hundreds of years.
From it, is a material that I had never really worked with, a material that changed the city and the landscape, that has inherent ‘natural-ness’ but I wanted to bring out something else in it.
It’s luxury.
By hand, I twisted and knotted the wool into a lace. Suspended, pure in colour and in a state of semi-transformation or disintegration, depending on how you choose to see it.
Thank you to New Hand Lab and the team for the opportunity. Thank you to José Manuel Pereira and the students of 11ºB Visual Arts at Escola Campos Melo for their help on the piece.
Here is the piece created by students of Agrupamento Frei Heitor Pinto. Thank you to Graça Morão for her support working with the children of 7ºC Escola de Tortosendo, 9ºB Escola Frei Heitor Pinto and 1º ciclo Escola EB Largo da Feira.
