I've recently come across the work of photographer Dawn Rogers and there's so much about her work thematically that resonates with me. It's interesting to discover that she too is greatly informed by Robert Macfarlane's writing on his spiritual connection with landscape.
I found this quote on her website blog really poignant:
"The chalk had long ago come to represent grief to me. The erosion of the surface and building of the sediment and the intense pressure put on the previous layer times passing, became a geological embodiment of how I was feeling."
This idea of a geological embodiment feels completely connected with my explorations at the moment.
In her work Dawn explores the feelings of grief upon losing her brother. She talks about how his death for her, is almost buried in the trees, the sand and the rocks in her home county - where all her memories are of being with her brother. Her brother is locked into old ways of being and seeing and she explores how we navigate new land when we re-build a life after loss.
'The construction and creation of the visual language was important to the
success of the project. The only way to create a document about the past
where little or no evidence remained is to create one’s own world. To mix fact
and fiction, to explore my inner world. This was liberating on many levels and
allowed me to look for other ways of denoting my thoughts and feelings by
using the very landscape of Dorset,(fig.2) and the Legends of the nomadic
Celts that once lived there'.
Dawn mentions an exhibition that would have been amazing to see:
"An exhibition exploring eerie representations of rural landscapes from the aftermath of the First World War to the present. In his essay for the catalogue Robert Macfarlane explains that the eerie ‘involves that form of fear which is felt first as unease then as dread, and it tends to be incited by glimpses and tremors rather than outright attack. Horror specialises in confrontation and aggression; the eerie in intimation and intimidation."
The more I investigate these ideas the more I see how they resonate with lots of other artists or creatives. It helps me feel more emboldened to dig deep into my autobiographical themes as this is somewhat of a tension within me at times (can someone's work be too autobiographical? Will people see or understand themselves in the work if it's too involved with the artist's personal story? etc). The answer will be different depending on the context I suppose, but I can see more now that these universal themes of loss, grief and memories are shared by so many and I don't think I need to worry that it's to self introspective. Betty touched on this in my last tutorial.
Dawn uses writing in her work and this is something I definitely want to try. I'm currently re visiting the woodland Burial ground in Barton, recording my visits there as the seasons change. Next time I go I want to connect with and experience the place truly in the present, writing and drawing as I experience the walk.