The House that Jack Built repurposes used Viva paper towel from the artist’s kitchen, eco-dyed with kitchen scraps and garden produce, and meticulously hand-cut along the Viva groove-lines and configured into the familiar domestic herringbone pattern. The chosen colours hold personal significance for the artist, evoking aspects of trauma and healing within the human body.

The title stems from an old cumulative nursery rhyme about characters and events tied to Jack’s house, where Jack is both protagonist and metaphorical builder of the world he inhabits. Individual pieces of cut paper towel—representing individual experiences—collectively create this wall of repeating, interlocking pattern. The work invites critical thought about why cyclical violence seems to be the inextricable building block of our world.

Through the use of everyday materials, the artist invites viewers to reflect on everyday human experience. This prompts contemplation not only of these narratives but also the broader societal implications. The transformation of mundane materials into art challenges perceptions of value and invites consideration of how everyday objects and stories can carry deeper meanings and provoke critical thought about power dynamics, trauma, and resilience in our collective consciousness.