FranAt the time I did these sketches I wasn't aware of their significance & until the exhibition date was announced I hadn't looked at them for a while.
During the time I did them the Grenfell Tower tragedy was unfolding & I was travelling a lot across West London on the Overground. The gruesome skeleton of the tower was particularly prominent from the train & seemed to dominate the whole landscape. Then it was covered over with a huge white sheath like a corpse in a coffin & a giant green heart was printed on the top with the mantra 'Forever in our hearts'. Inside the train people were sleeping, kissing, talking on phones & seemed unaware of what was outside. (Grenfell #1: 3 people sleeping & Grenfell #2: Kiss, Embrace, Connect) The Oxford Circus sketch was a dramatic & intimate experience of a family travelling together presumably to go shopping (Beautiful woman, sleeping child, distressed man). On reflection, these sketches continue my exploration of my Labyrinths & Rivers - a series of sculptures and paintings about journeys through mythical, allegorical & actual landscapes where I remember & self-question, such as 'What is happening around me? How conscious am I of where I am going? What is my position in the landscape?' The other environment where I experience this is on Hampstead Heath where the natural architecture of the trees overwhelms the human scale. The location in this sketch is Lime Avenue. My Map of London is a work in progress & is the latest evolution of my works on the River Thames & What Shape is my River? These are ongoing interpretations of responses to my personal history. I feel a deep resonance with the ideas of Helene Cixous (b.1937) who I had the honour of meeting at a seminar she gave at Jewish Book Week a few years ago. She is a Jewish-Algerian-French writer & her interest is in 'genealogy, birth & life story' & the 'psychological & political conflicts inherent in these circumstances' that affect 'language & displacement'. She uses an invented phrase 'the chaosmos of the personal' & that's sometimes how I feel. (see www.jwa.org) The Creative Carers Collective art group has always felt safe, welcoming & non-judgemental. A space where I have felt confident & inspired to take emotional risks in being creative. Our Zoom sessions during Lockdown seem to have brought us closer together! The weekly slide shows compiled by Richard & the chats on the WhatsApp group where we all message & ask questions have increased our opportunities to communicate, encourage & support each other. Sometimes I have started out feeling unsure & uncertain where I am going with an idea or because of the anxiety that we have all been faced with during the pandemic. Thank you Richard & Jill for sustaining & nurturing our precious art space & all its occupants! |