Scrubbed up well

series of 15 mops; wooden sticks, acrylic paint, fabric, cut garments, thread, glue, 15 work ID batches on pull string.

Me Time, Studio K POP UP, Stavanger, Norway, 2024

Scrubbed Up Well is a series of 15 mop sculptures inspired by handmade floor-cleaning mops. During a stay in China, I developed a fascination with mops that were often left out to dry outside people’s homes, visible to everyone passing by. I was inspired by the simplicity of how old rags were tied to a stick to create homemade cleaning tools, and by how these improvised mops have become part of the streetscape in certain neighborhoods.

In this series, I have taken the idea further by using exclusive designer textiles from brands such as Comme des Garçons and Balenciaga as rags. Each sculpture mimics the form of these handmade mops and is paired with a retractable ID card holder, like those worn by employees in corporate environments for identification, access, and time tracking. The cards display details about the garment’s life before it became a mop, offering a narrative of its transformation from fashion to functional cleaning tool.

Scrubbed Up Well explores power structures and hierarchies related to domestic labor and care work.

Photos: Helle Navratil