Marker's Commentary

This comprehensive collection of works is comprised of nine separate objects in the forms of photography and sculpture. Grey, cement-encrusted clothing consisting of a shirt, a jumper, a child's one piece and a woman's slip hang hollow and empty, as if wet, evoking the memory of the person they once clothed. Placed centrally in the submission is a horizontal black and white photographic banner featuring images of tightly cropped clothing and cloth. These have also been treated with the same cement crust prior to being photographed. Each of the items in the photograph are shrouded in a sea of velvet black. Below, arranged on three small plinths sit small piles of clothing and a Perspex box holding date labelled, lidded jars containing material alluding to memory.

This is a captivating work evoking the lives of those gone, the empty vessels of clothing leaving a haunting memory of their presence. It is dark and introspective, whilst also being ordered and methodical in its construction and cerebral in its intent, dealing with universal themes of life, death, absence and loss. Each of the pieces of clothing holds a secret evoking the unknown lives of those who once wore them. Like stone sculpture, there is a sense of monumentality, of form and concept.

A classical understanding underpins this work, yet it is wholly contemporary. The tightly cropped photographic images create a feeling of timelessness and a sense of mystery. The forms are almost abstract due to the cropping which emphasises the folds, creases and crushed fabric surfaces. Light has been carefully controlled to exaggerate the high contrast and drama. The body of work evokes contemplation and melancholy. Death pervades, and its inevitability is a powerful reminder of our own lives within the trajectory of time. Intimate and unsettling, this body of work is compelling and confronting in its stillness.