Trish SidwayI have always had a passion for textiles and found objects so after working in the fields of Banking, Education and Telecommunications I studied textile design and production.

I work from my studio in Collingwood incorporating paper, textiles and found objects in my art. However, I am drawn to discarded building materials especially those with a rust patina. I have been part of many joint exhibitions culminating in a solo exhibition last year.

As a young child I watched a man, with the help of his wife, manoeuvre a long pram out of their front gate and down the street. The little girl in it was strapped to the bed with her tiny arms and legs in splints and straps across her body to keep her tiny frame rigid. I could see her pastel coloured frock beneath the straps and wondered why this child was being pushed in such a peculiar pram.

It was not until I went to high school I met Stevie (Margaret Stevens) and learned she had suffered from polio, which had left her with little strength in her left hand. We became firm friends and I watched her struggle with writing in class and unable to join in some of the Physical Education classes.

We moved and I lost contact, however the image of this tiny little person strapped to a pram remains firmly etched in my mind.

Click to view more of Trish’s art work.


Please click on the picture below to see more photographs and a video of Trish’s “Touched by Polio” art work


Blossom