Statement about the two series: Memory, Time and Place

 Memory, Time and Place

I created the images in this exhibition during COVID, March 2020 to May 2021, from two perspectives: honouring the Isle of Iona and commemorating my mother who died in 2020.  

Isle of Iona

The Isle of Iona has been a recurrent theme in my work, having visited this Scottish Island a number of times. During COVID, I was part of the weekly “Isle of Iona Virtual Gathering” group, using Zoom to connect with people from England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, the United States and Canada. These online discussions were a rich journey of intense listening, sharing, learning and a deepening of our relationships. Our group shared their writings, meditation practice, research, drawing, painting and photography. 

During these virtual times together, I created intuitive drawing and paintings, teasing out themes, which culminated in ongoing images and words; this expanded my range of expression. Sometimes, I was uncertain of my creative response, but trusted the process, which is important in an artistic inquiry and group process. 

My process of making art is an interplay of elements, imagination and creative forces. In this series of works, I explored themes of memory, time and place. 

These mixed media works include smoke paintings, which were created with a candle flame, charcoal, pencils, pencil crayons, pastels and water colours.

Journey of Celebrating Life

The second perspective involved honoring my mother, Sheila. We were together for the last two years of her life. We cared for each other until her death. This experience resulted in a desire to create a new series of work, by revisiting places where we had lived as a family over the years. I created an artwork at each site I visited. Drawings and photography provided a documentation of the process. I became aware that these site visits, resulted in physically moving within space, tracing movement, through present time and memory. I discovered an intersection between visiting physical places, and

witnessing interior landscapes. Moving through the experience of memory and back-and-forth in time, resulted in creating imaginary work on site. 

For these site visits, I created 18” X 24” charcoal drawings. Later in the studio, I developed collages of photographic images of these places. 

From these two series created during COVID, I am finding a way through grief and connecting with people in a meaningful way.