17th October
Residency in the Czech Republic to visit the Palace of Justice in Palacky Square. The prison was used by the National Socialist regime in World War II and is infamous for the cruel treatment and executions of political prisoners in later years by the Communist Party. Today the Palace is the Secondary School of Applied Arts and part of it overlooks the courtyard where many of the executions took place. The purpose of the residency was to visit the prison, make work in response to the space and put on an exhibition for the students and teachers of the school.
I was drawn to the views of the corridors which seemed endless, as if time and space were being squeezed into nothingness in front of my eyes. I started to make drawings and each one I did became more and more abstract concentrating only on the retreating space. This seemed to reflect the heaviness I felt whilst in the prison, as if the space was closing in around me.
