Connected by a Thread: Stories of Migration and Labour in Sara Angelucci’s Piece Work

This thesis is a critical analysis of the multimedia project Piece Work (2017) by Toronto-based, Italian Canadian artist Sara Angelucci (b. 1962). Focusing on Coppley Apparel, a garment factory in Hamilton, Ontario, the project explores the process of making business suits through the digital collage Coppley Patterns and the photographic series Mano d’Oro. The sound installation A Sewers’ Chorus features the voices of the garment workers who recall positive and negative memories of their work experiences and personal histories, while the video installation Suit Elevator depicts the business suit in its final form. The majority of Coppley Apparel’s employees are women from non-white racialized groups. Deploying an intersectional feminist approach, this thesis argues that Piece Work reveals the complex lives of these factory workers from immigrant backgrounds in ways that speak against persisting discourses and practices of racialized and gendered labour in the garment industry. It begins by providing an overview of the history of the Coppley Apparel factory in relation to the history of migrant garment factory workers in Hamilton, and the broader history of racialized and gendered factory labour in the city. This thesis also acts as a record of the migration story of Nina Acciaroli, the artist’s mother, whose first job in Canada was at Coppley Apparel. It then examines A Sewers’ Chorus and its use of oral history, providing a discussion of the different stories shared by the interviewees, which range from happy childhood memories and nostalgic flashbacks to accounts of traumatic experiences. The thesis provides a comprehensive discussion of the process of making Piece Work, contextualizing it within Angelucci’s larger artistic practice of incorporating voices in the exploration of her family’s immigrant experience. Ultimately, Piece Work recognizes the employees of Coppley Apparel as people with singular voices and unique experiences and highlights their agency by including the complexity of their voices and identities as women, garment workers, racialized minorities, and contributing members of Canadian society.