the plan takes shape

 at last i am getting a clearer idea of where to go with my piece

hours of sifting through lists of slaves owned by family members, trying to get a picture of how many individuals were listed has shown a fuzzy picture - my main purpose initially was to find out how many slaves were owned by family members, but i gradually felt that i needed to identify them as individuals

i now feel i need to do this to acknowledge the role they played in my family's development and existence - without them i doubt i would exist 

listing the names of as many as i can is the starting point - i want to record these for myself, but know that i don't have the patience to stitch over 500 names -   so i have decided that i will use initials - the names listed are not always the "real" names of the individuals, they are a clerical representation of name mostly given by european owners and middle men, so they are a code, in some ways a "shadow" name - i can reflect that by acknowledging each indivual's initials and i think i will do that in white silk stitching on the body of the christening gown, maybe even working from the back - i think i will also add a small bead for each individual, probably around the hem of the gown, it will add weight literally and symbolically

this leaves me with the other aspect of the effect on the family historically and as individuals - for this i currently plan to use pieces of gown imprints on paper, stitched with words and phrases - these will be stitched from the back as a reflection of their being part of the hidden history 

what i now need to work out is how to bring the two elements together...........  ?