Making Port: Sophie Giller

Port to Port is an ambitious travelling installation project by the artist Sophie Giller. Over the past year the artwork has travelled between two Suffolk coastal towns, Lowestoft and Ipswich, growing and transforming at each stage, and it finishes its journey in Felixstowe, at Hamilton MAS.

Its centrepiece is a large-scale installation of sail-shaped patchworks. Each sail is made with local people who contribute personal memories, images and objects, which are printed, collaged, drawn and stitched onto textiles to form layered and deeply personal patchwork pieces. Rooted in the heritage of Suffolk's port towns, the project celebrates the region's maritime past and the collective experience of the people who live there, becoming a moving visual archive of place, memory and identity.

Port to Port is produced by The Art Station in collaboration with First Light Festival, SPILL Festival and Hamilton MAS. Sophie Giller has led the community workshops behind the sails in partnership with Suffolk Artlink, Suffolk Refugee Support and East Coast College. The project is supported by Arts Council England, Suffolk County Council and Other Brothers Studio Ltd.