My name is Dolly Sen and I am a writer, artist, filmmaker, performer and activist. I have used mental health services. I moved to Great Yarmouth in 2016. There, I heard about Lorina Bulwer. She was a British needleworker who created embroidered furies on discard material whilst in a GY Workhouse lunatic ward. She was there for almost 20 years and was mad about it. Poetic, raw, ferocious and bold, her angry words were stitched onto fabric with no punctuation, in an assortment of colours.
I researched her life and wrote her story during the pandemic. Lotte LS, who runs, Red Herring Press, contacted me and asked me to write a booklet on Lorina. The pamphlet allowed me to rage with her at how women labelled ‘mad’ are treated.
The booklet has sold out x4, as have the accompanying book events. These events have been full of energy and people with mental health difficulties were able to be themselves and talk freely. I still get emails from people who have read the booklet and that it has helped with self-acceptance.
Lorina Bulwer’s embroidery shows that even in the most desperate of circumstances and environments, people create, people have culture, people use art to tell their stories and record their discarded histories. I want people today in similar situations to see they have a right to culture, creativity and community too, and that they can link their work to the past and also provide a legacy for the future.
This is why I have created THE LORINA BULWER LEGACY PROJECT and its workshops.
