Arctic Hare Press
Arctic Hare Press
Prints
Under the Bed is a collection of photographs of a series of disparate objects connected to each other by their individual relationships to close family and friends. These objects recall memories of the past and the photographs explore memory: the cognitive act of remembering whereby a memory is suddenly sparked, with the resulting image in the mind brightly lit in the centre but dark all around. The immediate event is clearly recalled but nothing before nor after.
The images document my history and that of my family and in that sense it is a personal family album but in a wider sense the pictures explore the passing of time and the inevitable change and loss this brings. The pictures also refer to the concept of ownership and how objects imperceptibly change hands or guardians as time passes and I am aware too, that by the making of this work, I have added another layer to these objects’ histories.
By and large, I have acquired these things by default. Their original owners have no use for them any more; in one way or another they have moved on and along the way I have scooped these things up; their greatest importance now as indexical links to their original owners. When this work is exhibited each of my photographs is accompanied by an original document, which sets the object in its original context. The title Under the Bed references the shoeboxes and biscuit tins of such miscellany kept at the back of the wardrobe or under the bed.