This tapestry series traces the narrative of Tim Rakewell, a contemporary reworking of William Hogarth’s Tom Rakewell. The first work is set in the home of Tim’s great-grandmother and we see him as an infant cradled in his mother’s arms, in her hand she holds a smartphone with which the infant Tim competes for his mother’s attention. This composition deliberately echoes the art historical trope of the Madonna and Child, however here it is reworked to suggest that consumerism occupies the space once held by religion.

In the foreground, two cage fighters bow before the child presenting him with symbolic icons. One offers a football shirt from Sunderland Association Football Club while the other holds a miner’s lamp, both reference the pride that communities in the North East of England take in their industrial heritage. As emblems of working-class culture and regional identity they situate Tim’s story within a specific social context.