Roots and Remembrance
In this work, I consider what makes a thing valuable - and whether or not that value supersedes circumstances. Do we still assign value to a thing when it is broken, buried or lost? How does the idea of ‘treasure’ translate to our experience as humans - specifically how we treat one another? Through my drawings, I distill elements I’ve selected from the natural world; plants, mountains and earth, to comment on the emotional stunting and psychological entrapment that is a result of abuse, invalidation and isolation. To these I have added architectural imagery; houses, stairs and flooring. They are placed far away from the viewer in a ruined, inaccessible state. These pieces are larger than most people, compelling the viewer to confront and address the darkness of the textures and images. More broadly, these drawings convey landscape as living, breathing, evolving, shifting - and worthy of notice for itself. There are elements of botany mingled with anatomy, birth, death, decay - and the tension that accompanies the discovery that something horrible or tragic can also be visually compelling and poignant.
