Click to view my n ew photobook It's a mixture of shots from Lanzarote that have informed my work over the past few years, along with some more recent images from Berlin and Crete. Best to view the slide show in full screen mode and please ignore the sales pitch incorporated by Photobox
I have found myself delving into the aboriginal beginnings in the Canary Islands and have made some significant discoveries. The original inhabitants of the islands were Guanches, who are thought to come from the Berber tribe in North Africa. This tribe were reputed to be very tall, with blond hair and blue eyes, a description which also fits the Grooved Ware folk from Orkney who I believe could be one and the same. The graffiti that I spent much time photographing around the island turns out to be a Guanche motif. There is a neolithic settlement on Lanzarote called Zonzamas which seems to have striking similarities to Skara Brae in Orkney, although it is very hard to find and not promoted much as a visitor attraction. In fact, I had great difficulty in locating it on the island. During the Spanish Inquisition anyone of Guanche origin was hunted out and put to death, so many islanders denied their Guanche history from that time onwards and it still seems to be rather a taboo ...
Excitement mounts this week as we prepare our studio space for the degree show. Having to pare down the vast mound of work accumulated over my final year to select a few pieces that best represent me in the small patch of space allocated has been an illuminating exercise. Displacement The theme of Displacement is represented in my work of the same name. My interest lies in new theories of the movement of civilisation from West to East in ancient times, traced through evidence in weaving patterns and cloth samples among other things. I was fascinated by similarities I noticed in ancient Japanese stitched symbols such as 'Hirayamamichi', a protective pattern sewn on the edges of a garment to ward off evil spirits, to Guanche cave markings and ritualistic stone carvings. The idea that traces of different cultures may be picked up along the way when people are displaced led me to make a composite piece where these could be brought together. Displacement in current times, such as...
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