It Is Just A Place I Stay In, 2016-2020
“Our uneasiness with our own feelings of foreignness,
our own rapidly fraying sense of belonging.
To what do we pay greatest allegiance?
Family, language group, culture, country, gender? Religion, race?
And if none of these matter, are we urbane, cosmopolitan,
or simply lonely?
In other words, how do we decide where we belong?
What convinces us that we do? Or put another way,
what is the matter with foreignness?”
Toni Morrison,
The Source of Self-Regard
Because of the impact of Brexit, my perception of reality and identity as a European in the UK has changed over the last 4 years. I use my work to reflect on this.
I create constructions from my archive of images that have been taken on trips or of my local surroundings between June 2016. and Summer 2020. Revisiting these images and looking for associations of line, plain colour, light and shadows I create visual connections exploring what these moments have in common. The images are formally organised in grids, but a further layer of deconstructed text from phrases used to describe the status or attacking EU citizens in the UK are added interrupting the visual information. We are labelled as “scroungers”, “unwelcome guests”, “citizen of nowhere”, draining the NHS, used as bargaining chips in the Brexit negotiations and, in PM Theresa May’s words, “queue jumpers”. Theresa May’s language may be subtle, describing us as something fundamentally un-British.
There is a tension between the formality of the grids and the contrasting pattern of the coloured shapes. Although geometric and organic shapes of the surroundings are recognisable, it is difficult to find out where you are. Glimpses of trees, sky, nature and interiors of home, or views through door frames and windows, shadows of my body. There is a lack of clarity that for me implies a feeling of insecurity and isolation.
Creating these pieces has helped my understanding of what is happening to me emotionally. Instead of being trapped by my ongoing anxiety I am able to stay in the present rather than worrying about things that may happen in the future.
9 images; image size 780 X1050mm, c prints
our own rapidly fraying sense of belonging.
To what do we pay greatest allegiance?
Family, language group, culture, country, gender? Religion, race?
And if none of these matter, are we urbane, cosmopolitan,
or simply lonely?
In other words, how do we decide where we belong?
What convinces us that we do? Or put another way,
what is the matter with foreignness?”
Toni Morrison,
The Source of Self-Regard
Because of the impact of Brexit, my perception of reality and identity as a European in the UK has changed over the last 4 years. I use my work to reflect on this.
I create constructions from my archive of images that have been taken on trips or of my local surroundings between June 2016. and Summer 2020. Revisiting these images and looking for associations of line, plain colour, light and shadows I create visual connections exploring what these moments have in common. The images are formally organised in grids, but a further layer of deconstructed text from phrases used to describe the status or attacking EU citizens in the UK are added interrupting the visual information. We are labelled as “scroungers”, “unwelcome guests”, “citizen of nowhere”, draining the NHS, used as bargaining chips in the Brexit negotiations and, in PM Theresa May’s words, “queue jumpers”. Theresa May’s language may be subtle, describing us as something fundamentally un-British.
There is a tension between the formality of the grids and the contrasting pattern of the coloured shapes. Although geometric and organic shapes of the surroundings are recognisable, it is difficult to find out where you are. Glimpses of trees, sky, nature and interiors of home, or views through door frames and windows, shadows of my body. There is a lack of clarity that for me implies a feeling of insecurity and isolation.
Creating these pieces has helped my understanding of what is happening to me emotionally. Instead of being trapped by my ongoing anxiety I am able to stay in the present rather than worrying about things that may happen in the future.
9 images; image size 780 X1050mm, c prints
