After Little Stitches 
The work takes its name from Little Stitches, a set of four short plays that look into the human stories behind Female Genital Mutilation. Produced by BAREtruth Theatre Company, in London 2014, the show toured Theatre 503, Arcola and the Gate Theatre.
In this artwork I have used verbatim text from Felicity’s story, Where Do I Start? by Raul Quiros Molina, one of the plays in Little Stitches. It was drafted from interviews from FGM survivors, activists and nurses.
 

About the Work
The text from Felicity's monologue has been transposed into a different medium to create a 3D artwork. Written onto a child’s dress, ingrained using a pencil, it is intended to be both direct and thought provoking. The piece has been created in response to the line, ‘ they gave us presents, nothing too special, these girly, 
puffy dresses, because the dresses got spoilt with all the blood afterwards’. A new dress, for most little girls is usually something to cherish, to feel pretty in, play at being a princess in. The words tell a different story. For the purpose of this 3D artwork and artistic license, some text is repeated or emphasized, although none of the words have been changed.

Andrea Carr:  stage design, performance maker, artist
e: andrea@andreacarr.co.uk
w: www.andreacarr.co.uk
@andreavfcarr

training 
Nottingham Trent University, 1st class Hons Degree in Theatre Design 
Slade School of Art, Higher Diploma, MA equivalent

artists statement
I am a stage designer, performance maker and artist. My focus is to use my design work/skills as a vehicle for change, awareness and co-operation, and to make a positive contribution to our well-being. Committed to the assessment of my role as a creative and the integration of sustainable practices, I am interested in developing and participating in ecological projects. I am also a working artist, currently producing paintings, drawings and prints.

design for performance, projects/collaborations, designed/produced by Andrea Carr 
As a performance maker and artist I am interested in the potential cross pollination of projects and practices and how they influence each other. Current projects include:
Orlando after Virgnia Woolf’s novel (R and D) with performers Kyra Williams,Tracy Bargate, Shorditch Townhall ’13, in dev. ‘15 
St Ia’s Skirt (costume/sculpture/perforamnce), Well Wishers Festival, artist in the landscape, Pothmeor Beach St Ives, site-specific performance ’11
Stretch & Line (eco-costume/contact impro performance) with Samuel Overington, R and D ’13, 
exploring ecology (dance/ film/animation), in dev. ‘15
Stretch (eco-costume/dance/fashion fusion) Craft Meets Dance (joint exhibition), music Alfredo Genovese, pop-up performance as part of 21 Things I Love eco-fashion exhibition, Craft Central, Clerkenwell ‘10
Rooms (set/costume fusion, exploring belonging and ’poetics of space’ after Bachalard), dir. Tal Jakubowiczova, during a six week arts residency with Big Window Collective (pop up co-curated performance space), Space Makers at Brixton Village Market ’10, project in dev.  

set/costume design credits include:
I have chosen to work across a broad spectrum of the performing arts: new writing, poetry, classics, adapted novels, performance art, dance, opera, street theatre, circus, in transitory or purpose built spaces, intimate and larger venues. Most recently:
Extant (UK’s only professional visually impaired theatre company) with director/writer Maria O’Shodi: Chairs (eco-set/costume) 2014 (to re-tour), Zombieyez In Zagreb (film) ’13, Sheer (costume/masks) immersive theatre ’12. Resistence adapted by Maria O’Shodi, Extant, dir.Eileen Dillon, Riverside Studios, Versailles, Lycee International Paris, tour ’05. 

Amongst others: Plant Whispers (costume/props), Bureau of Silly Ideas, Christmas at Kew Gardens 2013. I Can Sing, Hackney Cronicles (design for children), HMDT, music Jonathan Dove, lib. Alaister Middleton, touring schools ’01- onging, Hackney Empire. Operation Hackney, On London fields (set/costume), music Matthew King, lib. Alaister Middleton, winner of RPS Education Award ’04; South Bank Centre. Poetry International 2000, Q. E. H. Purcell Room, McGough’s Menagerie by Roger Mcgough (interactive props/junk creature set). String of Pearls Millennium Festival, opening Somerset House, Creation Day 2000 (set/costume), dir. Tim Yealland (part 2 with children & young adults with learning difficulties)., Pepper Soup by poet Efosa Ebowe, (set), Allegresse, Lyric Studio, Hammersmith. Gravity Swing, Ra Ra Zoo (circus), (set/costume), Swan Theatre Stratford, Riverside Studios, Heatwave ’92 Serpentine Art Gallery. At Home with Ted Bunny by performance artist Trevor Stuart (installation/set/props) tour ICA, Bath Festival, Young Vic ’94. Lipstick Tango after Manuel Puig, Buster, (set/costume) dir. S Harper (winner ‘91 Carlesberg fringe award), Edinburgh Festival, Pleasants Theatre. Eight Inches Between Us (dance costume) Sisters Bon Bon, ICA, Third Eye Centre Glasgow. 19th London Handel Festival, Armino (premier), (set/costume) dir. Olivia Fuchs, Britten Theatre, Royal College of Music. Ubu Ru after Jarry (set/props), Chamade (costume/prop horses, still touring), Friches Theatre Urbain, dir. Sarah Harper Chalon sur Soane, Aurillac street theatre festivals ‘94 -’95. Romeo & Juliet, (set/costume) Hull Truck, dir. Bill Homewood, starring Roland Gift; Shaw Theatre, USA. Walking on Peas (set/costume/props), Dorothy Talk, dir. S Harper, Theatre Workshop Edinburgh, USA tour. Inter Artes Week, Theme Hong  Kong by Ho Wai On Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room & Foyer ’90 (set and exhibition design for foyer).   

music theatre/community/education/other
I have worked on music/theatre projects within education/community, running workshops, creating tactile interactive exhibitions/installations, set and costumes, props, puppets, masks, enabling (as part of a team) complexed operas and topics to be accessed in fun visual ways, for people of all ages and with different learning abilities/needs. My work has been seen in amongst others the Royal Festival Hall Clore Ball Room and Foyer, Purcell Room, Somerset House, Margate Theatre Royal, Cumming Museum, Handel House Museum, Steiner Theatre (Rudolf Steiner House), 1994 - ’04.
I worked extensively with ENO Baylis programme and Tim Yealland, ETO with Tim Yealland, Philamonia with sound artist Duncan Chapman, South Bank Centre, HMDT, Creative Partnerships, Glyndebourne with Peter Wilberforce, Handel House Museum with Tertia Sefton-Green Handel Bags (interactive education packs). Others include: Opera North at Manchester Airport with Olivia Fuchs, for seniors and students. Discover ‘Story Panels’ opening of a story telling centre. Teachers ‘inset day’ Grow environmental project with Clare Whistler. Poerty International ’98 at the South Bank with poet Lavinia Greenlaw. ENO and Graeae with Jenny Sealey. Mr Handel and his Trolley, Ormond Street Children’s Hospital with Hannah Finch. Drawing Machine after Tanguely with Neil Robson, commissioned by Tuke School and Creative Partnerships. 

other 
In 2007 I set up with (former partner) Kim Fleary 21 Things I Love, to exlore eco materials and to design ethical clothing. It was ’fashion with an ethical heart’, where each design had a narrative thread and was inspired by something I loved. Launched at Pret-a-Porter, So Ethic in 2008. Although I no longer promote it as a label, it greatly influenced my theatre practice, introducing the use of eco fabrics, such as Bamboo jersey, and expanded my approach to costume design.

public art, commissions 
Light Boxes, London Arts Council (commission) semi-permanent group exhibition, opening London Arts Council Offices 2006; Gnome by Andrea Carr & Francis Carr, public art (4.5m growing grass sculpture) commissioned by Lee Valley Regional Art Authority, Covent Garden Flower Festival 2000.

exhibitions 
Wild, joint show ( works on paper/artist in the landscape) Morvah School House Gallery, Cornwall ’14; Mixed Show, Made In Greenwich ( paintings) ‘13; Mixed Show, The Tri Space Gallery (digital printed silk paintings) ‘12; The Big Art Affair, mixed show (digital silk painting), The Vibe Gallery, Brick Lane London ’11; Life, Free Painters & Sculptors (FPS) mixed show (screen prints) The Framers Gallery, London ’11; Birds of a Feather, Brixton Village Gallery, mixed show (screen prints), Brixton Village Market ’10; Mixed Show FPS (monoprint), artworks inspired by literature, Foyles Gallery, Foyles bookshop ’10; Seeing Cornwall, mixed show (prints), The Bay Restaurant Gallery, Penzance ’09; Might Flight in Light, joint show (painting/works on paper/installation) Morvah Schoolhouse Gallery, Pendeen Cornwall ’10; Imagination Gallery, St. Ives, works on show; Unicorn Gallery Chelsea joint show (drawings) ‘02; St. Ives September Festival  - Open Studios/pop-up/open air venues ’04 -‘12