This piece is a comment on how mass production is killing art. In this day and age, we're conditioned to believe that everything can be done at the price that we can afford. We see 'art' being sold for pennies on sites (that will remain unnamed) but this isn't what art is.

This 'art' is made to be consumed, made to be cheap and made to not last. Real art, the heirloom art that we see in museums, was made with time, love, blood, sweat and tears.

This piece was 5628 stitches. It took me 49.5 hours. The materials cost £32.43. At the minimum wage for a 21 year old in the UK, this is how the calculation looks...

49.5 x 12.21 = 604.34

• 32.43 = 636.83

Maybe no one will by my piece. At £636.83, it's a steep increase from what we generally see on the market. However, we need to change this narrative that time isn't worth money.

As a fibre artist, I am constantly told that my work is too expensive, that they could do it themselves or they could find it cheaper. My work is made by hand, it takes up weeks of my time and it is made to be passed down, kept forever.

The fact is, as well, that buying from an artist will guarantee you a piece made with love, by human hands. Buying from one of these sites means buying from a seller who uses huge machines, pays their employees next to nothing and, most likely, utilises slave labour. Your piece will be made quickly, with little care for the details and will not last more than a few years.

This is not only an economic issue, but a moral one too.

We need to realise that art is human, art is handmade.