The quiet living room

wallpaper, toffee tin, straw, fob watch case, china cupid, parrot feathers

  The sound of a house occupied by an elderly woman is profound. It sits with you , gets up and follows you. You walk through it. Even the sound of a tv has little effect , its' reach extending only so far as the door , like the light from a fire. A radio has even less effect ;you can listen to a radio so quietly that you are only really hearing it in the back of your head.
 You sit and remember the past , turning the pages of your memory and reading them. You become reluctant to move because the sound of the house is all. Sometimes you make a cup of tea or boil an egg. You have to close the kitchen door lest the sounds of boiling water or gentle chink of china disturb the house. You and your house are in a deep meditative state.
 At dusk , the best time in the house , you can walk around. You can stretch and look at the things on the dressing table ;the glass trinket trays and faded  powder boxes. Your bedroom is almost foreign territory now because you mostly live in the living room.

The Pickle Fork of Gentility

wallpaper, greetings card, ring box, china brooches, pickle fork, perfume bottle.

20x30cm.

2006

The loss of everything

victorian photograph, victorian lace, victorian purse, one farthing not two, seal in box.

20x30cm.

2006.

private collection

Sunday Roast

wallpaper, bible, pheasant feathers, knife, fork.

20x30cm.

2006

Souvenir from the Emerald City

victorian photograph , glass flower frog, jay feathers.

20x30cm.

2006

In Waiting

1930's leather travel case , knife ,fork, gas bill.

20x30cm.

2006


Can we ever be alone?
 Not now it seems, not if you want to live like everyone else does.We all seem to want the same things , a herding instinct maybe.
Even if you eschew a life lived through tv and branded goods you still need the basics.Even if you cook from scratch and don't get caught in a consumer loop.
You still have to leave the house,pay utilities,sign your name.There are photos of you, videos even, people know you, talk about you, remember you.
It could be said that until no-one remembers you any more you have a certain immortality.And if you write your name on your pictures who knows how far into the future you could be known.
But what of your ancestors.A lot of people have photos of great grandparents , the legacy of Victorian technology, but not many.
We know nothing of our forebears.There is a genetic history and we are the living record of the past.It has been proven that certain bloodlines are carried with unusual surnames. People in one country somehow related to the most unlikely people in another.We generally know nothing of the lives of those who gave us life though we all share 20% of the same genes.
If you are the last in your family, what then ?
What if you were the only child of only children; no cousins , nieces ,nephews. What if you had lived alone in the house you born in and as you grew older your family died, friends married, moved away, died. No-one knows you, the only photos of you are in your own albums;smiling from the past, a ghost in your own life.
How many lives have passed like this ? Is it so terrible ? You are rare, in fact you have something many desire...privacy.

Memento mori

1.

wallpaper,pins,broken pearl necklaces,carpet.

20x30cm.

2007

2.

wallpaper, hamster wheel, hairpins,lipstick case, carpet.

20x30cm.

2007

Birthday no.34

finch nest material,fabric tape measure, jumblies paper package,silver backed hairbrush.

20x30cm.

2003

Antonia's first introduction

vintage magazine page, lozenge tin,poison bottles, newspaper wrap,silk flower corsage,diamante brooch.

20x15cm.

2006