‘The Feelings Mutual’ is a project by Lauren Tausend and Jade Walsh, showcasing two exhibitions of work alongside each other, threading together common themes of heartbreak, love and vulnerability. 

For Lauren, the exhibition is a culmination of eight months of work. Her pieces, titled ‘Mind Map’, have been constructed using a domestic knitting machine from the 70s and hand crochet techniques to transform the yarn into landscapes of colour and texture. 

‘The inspiration for this body of work has come from the idea of a mind map,’ she explains. ‘It’s a way to document and bring softness to the emotional upheaval of heartbreak, of change, and letting go.’

She constructed the pieces from her self-imposed artists retreat in Gippsland, sourcing the yarn from charity shops, mill ends and unused commercial deadstock. Although this limited the scope of her pieces in terms of colour and texture, Lauren explains it was also a chance to push herself beyond her normal go-to colours. 

‘It also added to the story telling nature of the piece, with the yarn having a previous life that is unknown to me,’ she says. 

Lauren’s intricate and thoughtful pieces will be available to see at the Blackcat Gallery in Fitzroy until this Sunday!

‘The Feelings Mutual’ by Lauren Tausend and Jade Walsh 
5 October – 16 October
Blackcat Gallery
420 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne