This is an example of Lorina Bulwer's work. As the museum where it is kept in Norwich notes -
Lorina Bulwer made this sampler around 1900, whilst resident in the female lunatic ward of Great Yarmouth Workhouse. It measures 12ft by 1ft and takes the form of one long, often confusing, rant. With no punctuation, and entirely in upper case, each word has been carefully hand-stitched onto a patchwork of fabrics by the maker.
In the sampler, Lorina tells the reader stories about her life and her family, including how she feels about being in the workhouse. She is furious at finding herself in there, with few rights and labelled a lunatic.
Magazines, songs [Corinna Corinna ?]all carry the fantasy, the unattainable the dream.
Some suggest that the sampler is the product of an early form of art therapy, although this is unlikely. It is more probable that Lorina was permitted to continue her stitching to keep her occupied. Whilst the true extent of Lorina’s mental illness in unknown, the sampler does tell the reader something about living with the stigma of this disability. -
They have kindly sent me the transcript of this particular piece, it runs to 68 pages.
It seems Lorina and her mother ran a boarding house, but when her mother died Lorina did not for some reason inherit the house or monies but ended up consigned to the Workhouse, for the rest of her life and very angry. It may be that she was somewhat autistic, as the work is obsessive and increasingly incoherent, and it is suspected that many more stitched rants of hers exist, but have not been tracked down as yet.
I would like to do some work in the spirit of Lorina, I certainly have the temperament at times.
recently i sat opposite a large woman in a coffee bar, she was truly enormous and was reading a magazine that in it's turn ranted endlessly about the love lives of size 8 celebrities and wannabees.
It occured to me that the conflict of possibilities in this situation would suit my own obsessions with Big Women and stitching words, and exploring the Female place in the society.........so next Tuesday I am hopefully [train strikes allowing] going to see Lorina's work for myself.
I was talking with P today around the concept. I did make sketches of my large lady, but she offered to send me the top pic of one of her neices to add to the collection.
I mustn't forget that Big women also have fun!!
