One of Richardson’s earliest works, ‘Self Image aged 13, 1975’ is a sculptural installation, notably devoid of crochet, made of mixed-media, vintage photographs and stilettos - elements of which have changed from exhibition to exhibition. The work was one of the first pieces Richardson mailed as part of the British Postal Art Event in the 1970s, a collaborative initiative to connect women in different cities across the UK through exchange of artworks in the post, which gradually evolved into a ground-breaking art project ‘Feministo’ and a series of exhibitions and installations around the U.K., including the acclaimed presentation ‘Portrait of the Artist as Housewife’ at the ICA, London in 1977.

The work was made as an expression of how Su felt at the age of 13 - “13 going on 45” - pretending to be an adult during a time when teenage years weren’t acknowledged, with little to no transition between adolescence and motherhood. The photograph depicts Su aged 13, and is accompanied by a hanger with a hidden message: “at night I hang up my image along with my clothes.”