email:  annieridd@yahoo.co.uk

‘To live is to leave traces’
Walter Benjamin : Reflections 1979

In his book Reflections, Benjamin draws a comparison between archaeology and art to the extent that they both explore the world of the uncanny, revealing what would otherwise remain hidden. This consideration of the absent and the present, the examination of what was once here but now has gone, fulfills a desire to stem loss and rationalize death. It is within this framework that I locate my own practice.

Imprints of the Past is a series of detailed, larger than life pencil drawings which explore the familiar object, everyday things that are imbued with human presence exuding a sense of the person that is no longer there. The drawings are intended to stimulate a sense of simultaneously looking at reality and uncertainty, infusing objects with an uncanny significance. Drawing directly from personal objects enables me to sense the faint traces of the person that remain. Careful scrutiny of the folds, creases and imperfections of a glove, for instance, created over a life time, enable me to capture fading memories. I use the most basic of tools, applying pencil to paper creating work which is enigmatic, intriguing and open to interpretation.