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I used acrylic, pva and thread, building up layers of colour and texture. This self portrait was inspired by research into my family history and our links to the craft of handloom weaving, stretching back to the late 1700s and early 1800s in Kilsyth. My family lived there at the time of the Scottish Insurrection of 1820, in which the weavers played the major part. It was in support of democracy, Scottish autonomy and workers rights, and three weavers who led the Uprising were hanged for sedition. It made me think about the debt we owe to past generations of ordinary people in the long struggle towards democracy.
