So a new major project is born....the first major practice based work I have undertaken since graduating in 2010.
Here is the introduction.........let me know what you think.
I
always begin a project by picturing what the end product will be, so......
Imagine finding a box.....it is average
sized, about the size of 4 shoeboxes, but not as big as a trunk. It is wooden,
carved and painted and has a brass lock.
Inside
there are documents, newspaper cuttings and photographs, both loose and in
albums documenting the life of a woman from her childhood to her death.
The
contents are mixed up, all together, in no particular order, as if they have
been taken out and put back many times.
I
want to create this woman’s life. She was famous in her youth, a burlesque
dancer and actress.
She
had a normal childhood; there is a family album of photos dating from her birth
in 1969.
Her
rise to fame is charted by newspaper articles, magazine spreads and studio
photographs. As is her fall from grace. There are scandals, affairs, gossip and
numerous photographs of her rebellious lifestyle. Nightclubs, fetish clubs,
drugs and alcohol feature heavily in the diaristic photographs.
There
are letters...many letters, from her to her sister; from lovers to her. They
document the hidden self that she hides from the media. There are diaries and
scrapbooks she has made herself.
Everything
ends with the final document...an obituary cut from a newspaper.
And
this is where I intend to start: the obituary. It will help me map her life;
the dates and events that led to this box being found.
