Lace is often thought to be associated with femininity or delicacy and softness, but Joanna Vasconce turns this on its head in her work, using traditional hand techniques such as embroidery or crochet to construct a new way of looking at things by wrapping crochet and lace, which is patterned and delicate and fragile, around glazed ceramic animals.

Like a second skin, the crocheted lace protects the ceramic animals, reminding one of those lace-wrapped household objects, and thus adding a layer of domestic attributes to the work. But from another perspective, the lace is like a cage that confines the animals, the dilemma of confinement and protection being simultaneous attributes.