To progress forward sometimes have to reflect on the work already been done (part 1)

I started this body of work back in September 2013 with my focal point being the Italian Chapel due to wanting to focus on Italian influence in my own Orcadian culture.

http://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/the-italian-chapel-p253741 (a link to the history of the Italian Chapel)

The Italian Chapel provides a link of cultures - from Orkney, which for being a small populated place has such global connections. And despite the horrors of WW2 how the POW's created something captivatingly beautiful, with the very basic of materials. Nowadays the Chapel has been used for Weddings which I find such a contrast to the idea of war and division of family and loved ones to unity and love.
This idea of incongruity and contrast gave me the idea of showing the complete contrast between Orkney and the likes of Italy. So I merged photographs of my own and this is what I came up with...

Colosseum/ Ring of Brodgar

Sorrento/ Marwick Head

Frescos in the Vatican / Inside the Italian Chapel

 

There are elements of these photographs that do work...surprisingly! Ended up necessarily not showing contrasts after all!

 



I then tried showing the contrast of visuals and language...

Flattie is an Orcadian word for a small, flat bottomed boat. Noust - scooped out hollow near the beach where boats are left in the winter

 Quesy, seasick

 

Think they would make cool postcards...but that's a different idea!

 

After this stage I had a break for a few days and came back fresh to it all and felt it had gone stale and needed to change direction. Researched into a few artists like Susan Stockwell

I like the simplicity of her pieces which led me on to the string balls... (to be continued)