Käther Svenningsens

Back story

My grandmother’s mother was a doctor throughout the war. She had to take her daughter (my grandmother) all the way from Upper Silesia, Poland to Dreileben, Germany by foot with a war going on; crossing farms, finding shelters for bomb raids, getting nourishment, and surviving so that they can get to the Gutshause in Dreileben where a family was taking them in. She was helping soldiers from all nations if they needed their wounds tended to, needed a place to sleep or just food. “today, she can convey the factual truth of her experience (v é ridique) but, having encased ... in its protective skin, and being in the ‘‘after,’’ she no longer can or wants to access the deep memory, the affective and traumatic reality of the past.“ (Hirsch and Spitzer, 2010:399).

Garment construction

She wore a doctor's uniform which consists of an overcoat that goes down to the knees, pants, and a plain shirt. On top of the uniform, she wore a plain white cotton apron which is made inspired by the German nurses from 1940, with a square top half, rectangular bottom half, and straps that cross in the back and reconnect at the front making a bow and two straps from the waist going back creating a small tie to support the rest.

Prints

The main print is inspired by as well as being a doctor she was also a domestic housewife getting on with her ordinary life as best as she could: Cooking, cleaning, gardening, etc. The print is made by Cyanotype of flowers that I pressed into ink to white paper to see the imprint, texture, and details of the flowers and to also create a black and white image which I then made into a tile print so show repletion of ordinary life but on the uniform to show the disruption of the War on her daily life.