Martha
Haversham
Essex/Paris/Smallditch
 

Smallditch trashion project 2017 - present

 

My current practice centres around Smallditch. where I dress the imagination.

 

My collages, updated daily, are exhibited to a global audience on Instagram and beyond. I believe aesthetic appreciation has the power to alter perception for the benefit of the individual and society and the digital realm is an ideal method of delivery. 

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I create seasonal collections of recycled millinery, separates and accessories found on the streets, salt marsh and beaches - with paper cuttings from self-portraits, recycle bins and charity shops - all local to where I have my studio, near Jaywick Sands, Essex. 

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Nobody with an aesthetic bone in their body would drop litter on a beach and I am fortunate to have the most glorious stretch of underrated coastline on my doorstep, with a huge amount of material for free.

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I am valuing detritus, objects of low status and exploring their worth; their cost to the planet. Individually, life is extremely challenging, but through this lens it is possible to carry an abundance of self-sufficiency.  Along with a sense of humour that makes for a very rich life.

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Accordingly, I believe ‘trashion’ - be it vegetable waste couture from a compost collection, an exquisite found feather frock or the latest plastic beachwear -  is an art form of today. It literally stops you in the street and puts a smile on your face. My collages are merely samples. The actual creativity is illuminating the path back to our imaginative childhood brains, to a playful place I call Smallditch. My job as an artist is to hand you the keys to a stockroom brimming with far superior garments in your head, to see them as objects of desire and to value them accordingly.

The project is evolving into a comprehensive series of artist books, a luxury online trashion boutique and more. - follow on Instagram for news.

 

The best things in life are free, everything else is very expensive  - Coco Chanel