CONVERSATIONS
REFLECTIONS ON THE QUATERCENTENARY 1611 - 2011
“Time is the longest distance between two places”
— Tennessee Williams
Memories Installation South African Cloisters Charterhouse 2011 ~ Photograph by Roger Smeeton
“Conversations’’ has grown from reflections about the Quatercentenary. There are places in the school where you experience a truly spiritual link with the past, present, and in some respect the future. These feel like shadows and echoes. Not manifest, not tangible, but present. This exhibition I hope captures that conversation between existences on one layer with another.
I have used archival imagery to create imagined narratives, drawing from snapshots that are intimate, and weathered. These pieces have been digitally manipulated, transferred to film and then hand printed using a warm tone developer on to antique photographic paper. Other pieces such as “Lost notes on a summers day” which references Vaughan Williams, are printed on silk organza using liquid light.
The work however is about Art, not photography as such. I have used techniques to develop interventions with the past. I have used deliberate imperfections in the process in order to create convincing narratives. As an example “Watching the waiting” shows a Carthusian from 2011 appear to be watching boys prepare for corps camps shortly before the outbreak of the First World War. The poignancy of this moment in history is stark, we are observers, but are absent, and uninvited.
Virtual Exhibition - Conversations
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There are also the transient, restless, cultural shifts of the present, juxtaposed with the past. No imagination is needed to see the modern Carthusian.
The South African Cloisters has a particular resonance with me. I cannot walk along its echoing passageway without feeling the evocative layers of history, and this why I sited my two Installations here.
Brooke Hall is the heart of Charterhouse. I love the sense of humour and commitment I have witnessed over the years between Brooke hall and Carthusians. ““Memories” celebrates both this aspect of Charterhouse and captures particular moments in Carthusian history.
“Conversations” deals with the passage of time. We are all visitors and our time will pass. We will leave our stain. Our voices will become echoes and our presence will be felt, but not necessarily seen in the future. Enjoy the journey.