I picked up all these girls 
communion gloves in Brittany 
in France about a year ago. 
They were stuffed in the 
back of a very musty cupboard 
in a huge warehouse type 
place that they open up 
once a month to sell 
second hand items for charity. 
Some of the gloves 
were stapled or safety 
pinned together with 
their matching 
counterpart, some were singles – 
their partner glove 
having gone astray 
at some 
point in time. 
I had to buy them all 
(despite the odd look 
from the lady selling 
them to me) even though 
I had no idea what 
I’d be doing with them. Such 
wonderful items with very 
powerful associations.

A few weeks ago they 
finally found their 
rightful place in a 
piece with another 
item I have been hanging onto for a while – 
a discarded bird’s 
nest that 
was found and given 
to me by my neighbour. The nest with its 
obvious associations of 
nurture and potential sits 
well with the innocence and ceremonial 
coming of age /discovery 
that the gloves signify. 
I find it interesting that 
some of the work I have 
been making of late has 
tended towards a 
romantic exploration 
of 
childhood, 
even though that has not been 
something I have set out 
intentionally to do.

Things Left Unsaid,
2010. Ring boxes,
gold thread.
Chantal Powell

www.chantalpowell.com