Nine a solo exhibition which took place in October-November 2024 in Arkade Studios, Aberdeen. The exhibition was a culmination of two years of work, featuring pieces created during a time when I returned to darkroom photography. The exhibition saw me progress artistically, utilising new processes and materials, and featured new textile works, drawings, and sculptural pieces. Arkade is an artist-run space, so I was able to showcase my new body of work in way I was comfortable with. I also produced an accompanying zine KATABASIS featuring new other works and text- you can purchase it here.
EXHIBITION TEXT:
Sometimes we are suddenly struck with a sense of ‘how did I get here?’. To try to rationalise this we can attempt to ‘retrace our steps’, piecing together a map of decisions and events (internal and external) which led us to our current state or situation, from memories, experiences and self-reflection/interrogation.
This usually comes at a time of change, in the face of loss, of shifts in circumstance, or as a result of our stage of life, and is often not of our own choosing. These moments can feel like a rip in the fabric of our reality, stepping on a snake instead of a ladder, our perception of our life shifting rapidly, requiring a re-orientation of our inner compass. The veil lifts- and what do you see? How did you get here?
The works presented in this show are an attempt to map my own journey, inspired by the mythological katabasis- a journey to the underworld. Drawing from classic texts navigating the underworld, such as Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Lost, the pieces seek to explore the idea of a self-created Hell being the worst form of torment.
Like the schematics of Hell in Inferno, NINE is my own ‘map’- a patchwork created from the shadows of stories, dreams and experiences, pieced together to try to make sense through seeking patterns and landmarks, in a landscape both unfamiliar and yet very much my own.
How do we find our way when we are lost? Do we look for signs to follow and patterns to decipher? Or do we seek to break it all apart and rebuild it, and ourselves, anew?