On discovering ‘Heterotopia’; a place outside space and time, I think it must be here. It is a pocket of nothing and everything, a place like nowhere else. It is a place of wistfulness, thoughtfulness, empathy, a little misery, hopefulness, mindfulness, learning, of wonder and of still quietness. A reminder of what has gone before and a prognostication of what could yet come.
It is a memorial. A monument. Saviour and beautiful monster.
I am an Embroidery Artist exploring texture, scale and negative space within my current work. My methodology has become inseparable from my practice, driving it forward and continually inspiring the use of new mediums and processes. I recently travelled to Chernobyl and Pripyat, Ukraine in March/April 2016 for the second time, supported by a much appreciated a-n Travel Bursary, to extend my personal research into the current issues of this site on the 30th anniversary of the world’s biggest and most devastating nuclear disaster.
I spent 3 days and 2 nights in Chernobyl with a personal guide and a group of other artists and creative’s gaining access to rarely visited places including the abandoned ghost city of Pripyat, the Duga Radar structure, Reactor no. 4 and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant itself.
The evaluation of personal research led to the production of a video of myself making work in Chernobyl. I sat and stitched inside a home evacuated in 1986, amongst the debris and remains of past lives, for 2 hours; the exact amount of time a family had to gather a few belongings, some food for a journey and documentation, under the impression they would return. They never did.
The displacement of peoples is of particular interest and this film has become key work. I left part of myself there, stitching and hand embroidery marking that evocative passing of a short yet poignant period of time. I used stitch as a meditative process, the repetitive nature of its methodology making a physicality of a long time aspiration, absorbing a sense of ‘place’ and time passing.
I methodically and meditatively stitched, alone, just stitched, in those silent, abandoned surroundings. Almost immediately I was hit by a wave of emotion, I felt incredible loss and a sense of emptiness, hopelessness and helplessness that was almost tangible. Never have I felt like that before.
The act of stitching was much more important and connecting than the actual embroidery piece itself. I felt compelled to take a tiny piece of damp, drooping wallpaper from that room, that home, and incorporated it into the piece of fabric I was working on.
This opportunity has allowed me to connect, to work collectively and collaboratively, with a diverse group of artists. We are currently in the process of making new multi-disciplined work inspired and informed by the trip that will be exhibited and toured nationally 2016-2017, mainly in the North of England. My rationale is to bring together people, place and politics.The intention is to educate, inform and raise awareness of the issues relating to nuclear energy in our communities today, through the visual arts.
The trip has allowed me to take major steps in realising my goal of generating significant opportunities for personal and professional growth both in the UK and Eastern Europe.
I will be delivering a series of talks with the 26:86 Collective on my experience from June 2016 please contact me through my website (below) for details.
You will be able to see an evolving list of our upcoming exhibitions here.
…as well as help us to reach as many people as possible through our work, at Generosity.com.
http://www.claireabaker.co.uk/blog-2/
www.facebook.com/claireabaker2
http://2686collective.tumblr.com/
