L.J. Furner

From October 2025 – January 2026, I undertook a residency at St Margaret’s House, a creative health organisation based in Bethnal Green, London. I shared the artist studio with photographer and painter Virginia Orr, and we collaborated via messages in a small black notebook throughout our time in the residency studio space, sharing updates on our work.

During this residency, I engaged in new processes to combine photographic and textile -based techniques. My work was predominantly focused on the idea of memory, of what is forgotten forever and what can be remembered. By using my own archive of film, I engaged with personal memory and with how visual aids might both help and hinder how we remember the past. Working with textile techniques including sewing, weaving and embroidery enabled me to work slowly and engage deeply with the images I was using, to think about the threads of memory and how they are woven into the tapestry of our lives as a whole.

The residency culminated in a joint exhibition entitled Exploring Change.

Many thanks to St Margaret’s House for their generosity and support throughout the residency period.

About St Margaret’s House:

‘St Margaret’s House (SMH) is a community Arts and Wellbeing Centre in Bethnal Green. Established in 1889, we have a long history of serving our local community through a variety of different chapters. Most recently, since April 2023, we have received annual funding from Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation to continue to deliver our Creative Health Tree approach.

We’re a site with lots of different venues: The Gallery Cafe, Ayoka Charity Boutique, a beautiful garden, offices for 30 tenant organisations and practitioners, and event and workshop spaces that are available to hire.

We believe in the transformative power of the arts and community connection to impact people’s physical and mental health and wellbeing.’

https://www.stmargaretshouse.org.uk

Photo credit: LJ Furner