I’ve Seen So Much In My Time

What would our landmarks and architecture tell us about societies morality?

Constructed to meet some of our basic human needs, what legacy have we left on them? ‘I’ve Seen So Much In My Time’ questions how we live our lives, an apposition of history, location and human behaviours.

This body of work combines the visual elements of the old city walls in Jerusalem, Israel, and the stone built prison walls of Robben Island, South Africa; both locations steeped in provocative history. The restored old Mamilla district is just a glance from the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem’s old city; it’s numbered stones, once sheltering Theodor Herzl, now house luxury hotels and designer brands in an open-air shopping mall. Meanwhile, the stonework of the prison walls that once housed political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela, now serve as a museum remembering the acts of the past but also playing home to tourists taking selfies with penguins.

The work brings these two locations together in personal contemplation of how lives are lived. At the time I lived in one location and my husband in the other, distance was our wall. I questioned how life was lived and the impact this global wall with differing cultures was having on us. 

Walls fascinate me; they act as both sanctuaries and secure holds. Full of patterns and textures their individual small elements have such strength when joined together as one. Hearing the stories of life on Robben Island and the legacies of Old Jerusalem amazed, these structures have been witness to so much.

Screen-printed on fabric, each piece in this body of work retains movement. They are not fixed or rigid like the walls; importantly there is movement and fluidity regardless of the varying weights and transparency. 

My process starts with observation, returning to site to draw. On these occasions due to the limited time frame at the locations photographs were also taken as a reference point for later. Hand drawn images were exposed onto screens in the print room at Chelsea College of Art, before selecting foils and mixing a range of screen printing inks and dyes to then be used to print the designs onto fabric. 

What landmarks are in your life? What have they seen? What will they be sharing to others in the future about your life?