Modern Art Oxford and Fusion Arts Activating our Archives theme of Protest and Play enabled me to react to some personal traumatic circumstances surrounding a family bereavement and the ensuing destructive disputes all exacerbated by the pandemic. Bound to silence from its oppressive all consumption, the fear of repercussion and misinterpretation, I was in effect verbally and visually voiceless - petrified even to post on Instagram. However, from within the safety, or so it seemed, of the AOA group I felt able to peep out from the depressive shroud, and make work again. It is a therapy and a form of resistance, a means of survival where personal expression helps to move through the world again. Like many creative journeys which begin with personal engagement, the playful call to arms opened up a chance to experiment freely in form, content and process but importantly to reflect on the wider areas that my practice considers.
My work engages with mental real estate, memory as archive and unreliable witness - that ‘fickle friend’ (Virginia Woolf) - and with social stigmas and cultural expectations, extending to the need to perform and be shiny in a troubled world. As a visual story teller I work with both image and text, creating new narratives. I hope that the viewer will empathise with the piece and it becomes a space to trigger their own memories in this present from their own pasts.
Abandoning obvious family photos and memorabilia, I decided to investigate the wonderful miscellany series of books called ‘The Saturday Book’ which were first published in 1941 and continued annually for 34 years. The books are teaming with essays, social commentary, photography and artworks on a myriad of subjects broadly around literature and the arts. But more than that they are a rich ground for dedications, partially damaged dust jackets, attempts to repair them and all have a narrative of their own. The worn books and illustrated end papers, all offering new opportunities to reframe and investigate the absence and presence within their pages.
Another important entrance into the take over is Louise Gluck’s Poem “Matins” the poem itself questions many areas of how we engage with nature and our beliefs but it is also the discipline and ritualistic symbolism of the early morning dedications that Matins can be. I am a true lark and ever more so rely on structure and familiarity to face the day, but also to find a foundation for my future life. https://www.best-poems.net/louise_gluck/matins.html “I’m looking for courage, for some evidence / my life will change”.
During my instagram take over I would like to share some early experiments to start investigating into the ethos of the Saturday Book, the pleasure in miscellany, nostalgia and memory as construct over time from the present day stance. Memory and time are not linear and we can implant false memories over time for very individual reasons. Ultimately, I’d like to make my story and pass the baton on for the viewer to run off in all directions of their own.