Shoes Have Names x Shelter Charity
Shelter Charity, a housing and homelessness charity in the UK, joined forces with conceptual fashion designer Jo Cope to create the Shoes Have Names art exhibition. Jo Cope and Shelter curated an international group of artists to create a collection of handmade artworks inspired by the personal experiences of real people facing homelessness. Each artist was paired with a person that Shelter has helped through its frontline services and their inspiring stories were then told through the medium of shoes and footwear based artworks.
The artists worked with each Shelter client to understand their lives, their housing history, and their hopes for the future. The resulting artworks seek to represent the positive steps forward people can make and the strength of the human spirit in times of crisis.
For more information about Shelter and their work please visit: Shelter UK
Kristina Walsh x Sarah
“If you do good, good will follow.”
Good Follows Good. Hope Follows Hope. (2020)
Jesmonite, 42 cm x 42 cm
Inspired by the importance of optimism and the power of kindness, this footwear-based artwork responds to a conversation had with Sarah, Kristina’s Shelter partner, and her belief that, “If you do good, good will follow”.
Shortened phrases inspired by Sarah’s words spiral over two imprints of feet, which symbolize how powerful the positive impressions we leave behind can be on others.
Together the text and carved feet beneath serve as a reminder that even in the most unlikely circumstances, goodness and hope survive.
Photography: Dan Lowe
“A home is often associated with places, objects, and memories, but home, as Sarah and I discussed, is also a place within ourselves – somewhere we are always present – that encompasses our feelings and our personal state of mind.”