Material Tests - Slate
The trials and inspirations of drilling into slate
I’ve always been drawn to the contradictory pairings of slate and thread, the coldness of stone and the warmth and shifting tactility of thread. There’s a tension there that feels both physical and emotional. Thread suggests repair, comfort, and domesticity, while slate remains heavy, cold, and unyielding. Bringing the two together creates a space where that contradiction can exist without needing to be resolved.
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In a way, working with slate and thread feels like an attempt to introduce softness into something inherently hard. It’s like stitching care, fragility, and tenderness into a surface that resists them. The act itself is almost a gentle insistence: I am here. I am trying.
The handling of slate gives me a similar tactile and sensory experience to stitching into fabric, despite its hardness. The resistance, pressure, and repetitive movement feel familiar, allowing my hands to respond instinctively in the same way they would when working with cloth. It’s this physical similarity that draws me to slate the challenge of it feels like a kind of conversation between my body and the material.
Thinking about it now, I realise this process is closely connected to how I’ve navigated my own mental health. The act of stitching into slate mirrors the effort of creating softness within periods of emotional heaviness. It isn’t about transforming the material entirely, but about negotiating with it finding moments where gentleness can exist alongside resistance. Some days it comes more easily than others, and that uncertainty is part of the work.
This tension between wanting comfort and the reality that it doesn’t always come easily is central to what I’m making. I don’t try to resolve the contradiction. Instead, I let it sit there, held together by thread.