art work
strange fruit
“strange fruit”
Charcoal and ink drawings inspired by the Abel Meeropol poem (made famous by Billie Holiday) protesting the lynchings in America
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‘Southern trees
Bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves
And blood at the roots
Black bodies
Swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hangin'
From the poplar trees
Pastoral scene
Of the gallant south
Them big bulging eyes
And the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolia
Clean and fresh
Then the sudden smell
Of burnin' flesh
Here is a fruit
For the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather
For the wind to suck
For the sun to rot
For the leaves to drop
Here is
Strange and bitter crop’
ghost
ghost
Trying to recreate the feeling you have when you catch a glimpse of something in the corner of your eye
Or feeling like something is watching when nothing is there I used a circular shape to imitate the the Lens of an eye, and used ocular imagery to link to the idea of seeing and reseeing
oops! series (ii)
again looking at notions of impurity, and the views on mensuration present in the bible which have slipped into our modern views. It is seen as something to hide, something filthy and impure, rather than something to be accepted and even celebrated. It is a symbol of fertility, health and womanhood, it should not be shunned or discarded.
oops! series (iii)
made mono-prints in order to 'stain' the paper, mimicking period stains, and the idea of 'tainting' something, looking at impurity. Also looked at cycles and the symbol of 7 days.
oops! series (i)
collage: where does one thing end and the next begin? “oops” series
the power of red, colour suggestion, finalising narrative, exploring gender
the dancing ghost
Collage experimentation looking at artificial memory and illusion within childhood “the dancing ghost”
empty space
empty space
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inspired by the concept of outer space, and accuping space with emptiness
memory charm
Like a dream catcher catches nightmares, the idea of this is that it catches memories
I used shells from a beach in France last year that I collected on my 18th birthday
it captures that particular memory and time stuck between childhood and adulthood
The teeth link to growing up and serve as a reminder that time is always passing (again linking to child to adult)
Then the casts of the fabric also link to preserving things at a certain point and time, and clinging onto how they are in that moment. Displaying the fabric next to the casts links to the idea of false memory, seeing things as you remember them, and seeing things as they are, are very different perspectives
gimme what i want
looking at gender, used iconic images eg. of the suffragettes, and added male nipples on them. Looking at the prudish nature of society, and why the patriarchy is so obsessed with nudity- how a woman is seemingly seen firstly as a body, then secondly as a person/ mind (almost like an afterthought)
collage experimentation
modifying photos and experimenting with collage. Looks at the instinctive act of creation, and the notion of change.
3 in 1
quick sculpture experimentation: 3 in 1, make 3 sculptures in and out of eachother
touch
exploring interracial marriage and the beauty of mixed race families, as well as race relations and how they affect our relationships today. The subjects are my parents, and to think, if it were another time period they would not have even been allowed to touch eachother. The importance of accepting love in every form, and connecting each other with what we all have in common: love.
the see tree
experimenting with memory. Taken from the tree I had in my back garden as a child that was cut down, I liked the idea that this tree had been in the background of my entire childhood- 'seeing me' through the ages. It seemed to represent the comfortability and stability of childhood, as we are entirely dependent. Becoming an adult and seeing the garden without the tree made me realise how independent adulthood is.
Played with this idea of personifying the tree, and adding eyes to almost make fun of my attachment to the tree itself.
sold my teeth for fairy dust
I made earrings out the teeth replicas to look at this idea of selling yourself in the modern world. We are taught selling and exchanging from a young age, even through concepts as seemingly innocent as the toothfairy. We are encouraged to sell our organic matter for gold coins, there is something very strange about this process when you are removed from it as an adult.
sold my teeth for fairy dust
Place place place project: I chose to look at a place of innocence and comfort. My childhood bed represents this, it is a ‘place’ I return to when in search of safety- it restores that sense of childhood security. I wanted to capture it in an innocent state (before it is tainted by adulthood)
This image of a child’s bed led me to think about the concept of the tooth fairy. An innocent and magical belief that is instilled in children becomes gruesome and almost barbaric when you look back as an adult.
I found it strange that we teach children from such a young age the act of trading- taught to exchange items for something of higher value
We are encouraging them not only believe in almost a ‘false god’, but they are also exchanging organic matter- parts of their body for money.
In response to this I made a small duplicate of my bed, then took the collection of my real baby teeth that were saved, and made replicas out of clay.
I found it is quite gruesome (when the magic is taken away) to see children’s teeth scattered about. The image of the innocent bed along with rotting teeth taken from a child’s mouth becomes quite unsettling.
I found it important to encase the bed -to contain it, and show it is a preserved memory which is detached from the present. Ultimately the work aims to expose how the enchantment within childhood is tainted by adult cycnicism: it is a visual practice of de-mystification.
In one image I aim to present how the baby teeth I once exchanged for fairy dust, have simply become severed, dead parts of my body, stripped of life, value, and magic.
It is a comment on capitalism, and the distinction between childhood and adulthood (along with the losses we take during that transition), where everything becomes a little less magical.
materials:
The teeth copies are made from modelling clay, painted and varnished
The fabric for the bedding I made was taken from the pillow case I had as a baby
The carpet is made from the towel I had as a baby.
film work
blink
“Blink” final film
“blink and you’ll miss it” (Listen with headphones)
My final film explores nostalgia and my toxic relationship to memory.
Clinging onto the past without allowing myself to let things go, or allow memories to fade, makes me feel like I am being haunted by my own memories.
I wanted to present my own fear of time passing in a visual way, adding elements of childhood within the imagery, as a way of presenting that difficult transition between childhood to adulthood.
I also wrote the music which is inspired by a short song I wrote when I was 9 to connect to a younger version of myself, and a different time
The central idea was born out of a particular nostalgic memory I have, of sitting in my garden as a child watching a sheet blow in the wind- and thinking it was a ghost dancing.
I wanted to connect back to this memory and that innocent state of being in some way
I researched the origins of modern magic and illusion, and wanted to create a film that encourages the viewer to return to that childhood state of wonderment and blind faith
As children we believe in things simply because we want to
As adults we complicate everything around us, which means losing the magic around us.
Ultimately I don’t want you to believe you are seeing a real ghost, but I want you to want to believe in it
(As you once would have)
I hope to bring a little bit of that magic (we lose in adulthood) back through the film and the work I am developing at the moment.