40598449 / Alexandra Georgiou.

40598449 is a textile based volume created by artist Alexandra Georgiou whilst living with cancer. It is created from the artist's clothing and resembles a regular pile of clothes. All the items are sewn up and cannot be worn again. Some of the letters received relating to her illness have been interleaved and sewn within the clothing to create the sound of turning a 'real' page. In her words, 'the person who used to wear those clothes is no more. That person is made to feel like a number, a statistic on a conveyer belt of treatment. On top of that is coming to terms with a body that has had part of itself amputated. It is not possible to wear clothes normally again.'

The book is fastened with 2 nylon webbing straps and plastic side release buckles. The number 40598449 is printed onto calico and sewn onto each piece of clothing. Photographic images are printed onto fabric and sewn into the book. The artist records her experiences of cancer and chemotherapy by embroidering her emotions in cotton thread onto the pages.

2011.

1 volume : 11 pieces of clothing stitched in book form, letters, photographs ; 43 x 48 x 25 cm

Alexandra Georgiou was a Greek-Cypriot, a practising artist and teacher, who trained as an artist at Chelsea College of Art. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011 and died on 24th April 2016.

Georgiou said of her work, 'Very often my work has been about my body as the terrain of difficulty, the site of ill health, and 'dis-ease.' Cancer is a dis-ease of memory, which cannot be seen but eats away at the body. Finally cancer gives you permission to do what you want to do.'

Please wear gloves when handling, use book supports provided.