Portraits of the Dyeing and Unravelled addresses themes around death, gender and memory. The commonality of craft techniques, materials and imagery used by Theresa Darmody and Susannah Thorne unite works exploring two quite distinct subjects.

Theresa Darmody's work responds to 7 bags of knitted garments (belonging to a deceased stranger) that she was given in 2011. She has pulled, cut, torn and teased apart these knitted artefacts to create a series of paintings and monoprints. These works explore notions of legacy in material terms—when we are gone what happens to all our possessions, things which we were given or collected or strived hard to get, things we couldn't throw away? What physical trace remains of all our 'things'? Using printmaking methods, painting and embroidery, the knitted items are given a second life and an opportunity to literally make a mark.

Susannah Thorne's work focuses on the life of Eugenia Falleni (1875-1938), who spent 22 years secretly living as a man and in 1920 was charged and found guilty of sex fraud and murder. Thorne sews together diverse materials—vintage clothing, plastics, human teeth—to create portraits, multi-layered works and installations, and these works represent a continuation of a central feature of her practice, the exploration of responses to the human body and gender.