It seems fitting that an exhibition on the theme of time is also bounded by the concept. The walls are empty and white again, the next exhibitors are unwrapping their precious cargo and our collective works are consigned to the parameters.
My pieces were very much about this flow of time and the nature of our own impermanence, so it has a nice resonance. There is just the smallest tinge of grief, the life of the show is over. Mindful of the feeling of anti-climax several of us are now returning our focus to our coursework and maybe thinking of the next project.
I developed my work over the last twelve months or so and it emerged out of a ‘ripples’ project I had been doing which took me repeatedly to our local lake. Once the theme of time was decided by the steering group, I initially thought of the expression about not stepping into the same river twice, because the river is changed and so are you. It seemed that the two projects were naturally aligning.
No [wo]man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and [s]he’s not the same [wo]man. Heraclitus,
I thought my submission would be a development of the stylised ripples as I had amassed quite a collection, they had also got quite positive feedback from a couple of Thames Valley Group meetings. I started working in to them and playing with colour and form post-processing. As we had quite a long time to prepare I didn’t worry too much that I didn’t have a clear direction for a while.
During 2018 I was also a regular contributor to ‘#kickinthecreatives’ and in August I decided to play with their one-month theme ‘Reflect.’ This gave me the opportunity to really develop my thinking. Anywhere I went, from Eastbourne to Bangor, that had a body of water was captured.
By this time I had also found the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore, several lines seemed to beautifully capture the intention behind my work. I wanted to create a sense of impermanence and represent how our lives are fleeting moments. This is what drew me back to the Goldsworth Park Lake.
I remember before the lake was there, and all the land was a significant plant nursery that was well known for its Rhododendrons. My Mum worked in their greenhouses for several years. In 1973 the land was sold, and work started on what at that time was the biggest housing estate in Europe. The lake had to be built as a run off for the buildings to prevent flooding. Not only is the water a metaphor for flowing time, the location I used also has a temporal meaning for me.
Seeing the work on the wall felt like a great sense of achievement. I was really delighted with the shadows cast by the transparencies, even though the lighting made them almost impossible to photograph! It has been a great experience to work through the exhibiting process and I have gained a lot from focusing on a long-term project.
Image titles:
- Top left: Lightly dance on the edges of time
- Top right: Time is a wealth of change
- Bottom left: Not months but moments
- Bottom right: Time Enough