Copper Etching on Manipulated Brown Paper, Limited Editions of 4 (each), 33x 43cm, unframed, .

Pressure Points 1, 2 and 3 reference a research visit to Ironbridge in the River Severn Gorge where part of my ancestry originates. Like many post-industrial regions, there are buildings now left in disrepair or reused in new ways that hold the collective memories of lives past. I am drawn to the notion that memories remain in these structures, acting as points of tension and pressure, both physically and metaphorically. The very cracks in the buildings, the dust on the beams and the rusting trusses contain tiny fragments of everyone who has passed through the building including those related to me. The ‘Pressure Points’ series aims to capture these suspended emotions, showing the quiet vulnerability of lives alongside the enduring energy held within these structures. The perceived delicacy of the manipulated everyday, brown paper belies its strength, just as the individuals who toiled in the industrial riverside factories.

The work is part of my ongoing body of work exploring familial connections and geographical locations.