Original artwork description:

Drawing on acrylic base with pen and oils. A3.

A piece from my final year at the University of Brighton. This was made in the height of lockdown in my dingy student bedroom with a broken ankle. I was working towards a deadline and felt lost without my studio, this work was a pivotal turning point in my practice. I began to experiment with graftage, a method of image making I had researched for my dissertation.

My practice is concerned with the impermanence of memory, and how this is documented whether this be analog or digital. I have become obsessed with this exploration since my dad was diagnosed with Young Onset Alzheimer's when I was 19. My Dad's bizarre behaviour suddenly made sense and I felt a sense of relief, that he hadn't just become a bit of an ass!
I am still trying to deal with this unusual circumstance, therefore making my practice a form of therapy. Incorporating the philosophy of the Surrealists', I aim to immortalise the bizarre, scattered memories him and I share.

This piece delves into a weird specific memory I have as a child. My dad suffers with a fish allergy, we assume. He has never been tested but his face blows up when his food has been in contact with fish. The previous day, he had a ham and cheese sandwich which was sitting next to a tuna sandwich. Consequently, the next day half of his face was blown up. I must've been 5 or 6, but I remember trying to cheer him up by showing him my Lego creation. We always used to build extravagant castles together and regularly visited Lego land.

Materials used:

Acrylic, oil, pen and pencil

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