Saturday 8 June 2019

PhD-Ness - Part 13 Year 2 Some Work So Far...


It's been just over 6 months since I've updated my blog. For various reasons I got out of the habit but I've decided to try and get back into the habit. It's a good habit as writing up what I've been up to is a good way for me to a) collate information b) keep track of the progress I'm making and c) be able to show examples of my work. 
This post is a mostly visual one with examples of what I've been working on over the last few months and a few words about each piece. All of the pieces shown have been made in connection with my research into the history of St George's Field, some of the people buried there and Victorian mourning culture. I'm interested in the past, how we view it and how we can collaborate with it. 

Close up of memorial decorative detail on a stone nearest the Chapel at St George's Field. B+W film image. Flowers were often used on gravestones in the Victorian era, sadly this stone is missing the name plate so I cannot tell you who it was for. There is something about the fading flower covered in spiders webs  against a backdrop of decaying stone that I find aesthetically pleasing and I am repeatedly drawn to it.

This is a matte medium image transfer of Anne Carr's grave. It was made using a print of a 35mm colour photograph I took of her gravestone on January 18th 2018 on what would have been the 177th anniversary of her death. I laid a yellow rose on her stone in tribute to the work she did with so called 'fallen women' who would often be made to wear yellow when housed in a workhouse. I am especially interested in the work, life and death of Anne Carr. She was the founder and Presidentess of the Female Revivalists Friendly Sick Society and she preached sermons inspired by the New Testament around the country as well as encouraging people to take the Temperance Pledge and forgo the 'demon drink'. 

This is a 35mm black and white film image of the Chapel building at St George's Field, taken with a fish eyes lens. I've been making work in and about St George's Field and researching its history and the history of some of the people buried there since 2013. This image is part of a series called Once and Now.
This is an anthotype of the same film image made with weeds collected from the site.
This is a lumen print of the same film image of the Chapel.

This is a 35mm black and white view of the view through the entrance to the site nearest to Clarendon Road.
Comfort in Sorrow
This is an installation I made for the Living With Dying Conference at the Live Art Bistro in March 2018.
It consists of muslin soaked in a solution of dirt from St George's Fields for 3 days, along with a mix of prints of images printed on coffin lining material (generously donated by Luke Howgate and Sons, Dewsbury) and dried roses.  

digital picture of reflection pic taken in the rain in April 2019 

Another b+w film image view of the entrance to the site nearest to Clarendon Road  

An experiment with printers ink, rollers and leaves collected from the site.

Matte Medium Image transfer of a 35mm colour film image of the tomb of George Thwaites and family. He was an innkeeper and lived on Vicar Lane in Leeds. He died in 1855 of inflammation. This image was left on the site for 4 weeks.

A reworking of the Comfort in Sorrow installation for the Death and the Sacred Conference at Manchester Metropolitan University March 22nd 2019
Work in progress - rubbings of various parts of the site. One of the things I'm interested in trying to achieve is a kind of collaboration with the site. 

view of Once and Now - show at Kapow Coffee, Thorntons Arcade, Leeds October 2018-November 2018
2d printed and framed work
Close up of hoops - images are 35mm film images heat transferred onto on coffin lining material and hoops covered with purple and grey bias binding, purple and grey are colours associated with Victorian mourning.



works in progress - matte medium image transfers of 35mm film images of the Chapel at St George's Fields 









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