Adespos (details)

Here is my statement about the piece:



Adespos



I am calling my piece for the exhibition “Adespos”. This is a Medieval Latin
word, which means ‘anonymous’ and it feels apposite, bearing in mind my
context for this piece.
I fabricated the structure/ format, to be a bit like an ‘opened out’
envelope. I wanted it to be such that, when you opened it up, its shape and
the layout of its’ visual elements, felt reminiscent of a dwelling.

The plain cloth cover barely disguises the silhouette of a woman. Her
profile has been carved into the board beneath. I was thinking of the
current Sudanese crisis – for me she represents a woman of Darfur, who is
without a home and ‘stuck’ in a refugee camp / afraid for her life. In many
senses it is quite easy to not even notice her.

Inside various figures are represented. Such as the frightened little girl,
who peeps out from the attic, of the text house. This ‘house of letters’
signifies the idea of a book or a story which is one of the ways that people
struggling ‘against the odds’, might survive. Individuals, who are unknown
and stateless, need hope to help carry them through.

I deliberately made a decision not to include writing. Written facts about
people are categories and although they identify us formally - on another
level they reduce us to ‘units’ or cargo.

The image of the house was originally made as a silk stitched motif and
includes pages from a Russian children’s fable. We see also the skeletons
of unknown infants who died too young, found in a crypt in Palermo, in
Italy. These are representative of anonymous people of the past.

Materials: cotton, adhesive, mill board and paper (fibrous, Hahnemuhle
etching and lightweight paper for inkjet print.)

Technique: printmaking collage; inkjet, silkscreen, intaglio and relief.

Aine Scannell


March 2008