Advertisement
Art

Amy Richardson is stitching together a tale of homelessness

The Reading University student has been telling the story of late Big Issue vendor Mark for her final uni show

Amy Richardson’s uncle Mark sold The Big Issue in Kings Lynn. He suffered from mental illness and alcoholism throughout his life and died in 2015 while homeless.

Four years on, Amy is about to graduate in Fine Art and Psychology at Reading University. Using tragedy to call for change, Amy’s final show is inspired by her uncle.

Called There’s Nothin’ Soft About Hard Times,it consists of nine cushions highlighting the issues that lead to homelessness and exacerbate the situation, embroidered in a method that is like using a sewing machine as a pencil or paintbrush.

As Amy explains in the captions, each cushion depicts a scene from her uncle’s life.

See more atamyeliseart8.wordpress.com and in the gallery above

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Do you know how Big Issue 'really' works?

Watch this simple explanation.

Recommended for you

Read All
‘The people made me a star’: On her 100th birthday, why Marilyn Monroe still matters
Photography

‘The people made me a star’: On her 100th birthday, why Marilyn Monroe still matters

Artist David Shrigley: 'If Nigel Farage had become a sand sculptor we would all have been better off'
Q&A

Artist David Shrigley: 'If Nigel Farage had become a sand sculptor we would all have been better off'

I'm an artist who used to be homeless. Here are five things I wish I'd known before I started
Advice

I'm an artist who used to be homeless. Here are five things I wish I'd known before I started

Meet Rene Robbins, the 100-year-old artist who survived homelessness: ‘I'd cry myself to sleep'
1oo year old artist Rene Robbins
Art

Meet Rene Robbins, the 100-year-old artist who survived homelessness: ‘I'd cry myself to sleep'

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payments: Where to get help in 2025 now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payments: Where to get help in 2025 now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue