October 2020
‘Locale’ – AUB Foundation Media project
During Lockdown in the spring my garden became my world. It felt very small and confined. I love to travel, and was unable to do so with government travel restrictions in place and keeping my family’s safety at heart. I spent a lot of time outside in my garden but longed to travel further, and I began to appreciate small details I hadn’t really noticed before. I saw shapes and colours that reminded me of places I have visited abroad. My garden became my “empire” … I began to daydream about the places I have travelled to and longed to revisit. I realised that NOT travelling should also be appreciated as much as travelling. I developed a “micro/macro” insight into my garden surroundings.
There’s a Swedish saying “Borta bra men hemma bäst” = away is good but home is better. It’s their version of “Home Sweet Home”. I feel very fortunate to have a garden.
I made some samples, testing materials, made a lot of notes and mind-mapped ideas, researched books, poems, and texts, explored Pinterest, looked at other collage artists – particularly Robert Rauschenberg’s work, Hannah Hoch, Annegret Soltau. Could I mix it up further with use of oil pastels and acrylics? I have a selection of ephemera and found objects… (I’m becoming a hoarder ) which are calling to me ….
My final piece was a collage, but I have several more unfinished experiments with photos and poems which have become a “body of work”, I guess? I plan to create a handmade book (concertina format) to bring it all together.
