Objects: Letters and parcels.
Wool on fabric and foam
‘Woodbine Cigarette Box’ is inspired by a cache of letters addressed to Captain J Hammond during the First World War. Most of the letters are from mothers or wives asking for information about their missing sons or husbands. But one letter is from a woman who befriended soldiers without family connections and sent them parcels and letters. She wrote: ‘I heard Private F Miller was killed. He seemed short of friends. I had ordered to be sent to him a parcel of 280 Woodbine cigarettes. I shall be glad if you will dispose of them in the way that seems most fitting to you’. Woodbines were smoked by most of the troops and this would have been a welcome gift.
The letter embodies a very moving short story between two strangers connected by kindness in a time of war. The felted cigarette box symbolises this fragile connection.
Qiruoxuan Na is a multi-disciplinary artist who enjoys working in a variety of media including fabric, clay and wool.
