'Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger'

I went to college last year and did a foundation in Art and Design. I have always been quite 'arty' and creative, but I guess had lost part of this essence of myself through some of the many
challenges life threw my way. Unfortunately two years ago I had to leave a job I loved, mostly because I needed to be there for Izzy and also due to the the fact I was burning out (a severe lack of sleep really did not help!) but I had been through a lot.
Going to college was a massive boost to me. I was able to immerse myself in being creative for a whole year and I realised just how therapeutic it was to have something to do just for myself. I found that ideas came quite easily and I enjoyed playing and getting back in touch with my inner child. The course taught me so much and allowed my creative side to reemerge.

My initial intention for this project was to undertake a personal enquiry of significant times in my life, expressing the steps and changes that I have gone through in a visual way.

The predominate theme was to illustrate how although at times in life where things have been challenging, fundamentally everything that happen, happens for a reason and makes you who you are. My personal life history is important and memorable to me. I wanted to document this through some symbolic visual representation.

The work progressed from an initial scrapbook idea to illustrate these significant aspects of my life, to being a fully felt and emotive representation. I found that certain musical tracks resonated with me and reminded me of times in my childhood, with friends and then to a difficult time experiencing a challenging relationship that ultimately lead me to have my daughter and become a stronger and more fulfilled person. As I listened to certain tracks, they reminded me of how far I had come. I then began to collage and illustrate using photos and object on to vinyl records. I went on to produce a track combining fourteen tracks, linking the lyrics to tell a story, a journey.

Initially I wanted to use lighting within the installation to light up each record that I had collaged on to add mood through colour, this transpired to become a slide show of colours and close up’s of aspects of the collaged records to produce a visual and musical story.

The work of Tracey Emin particularly inspired me, her braveness at showing her soul and sharing personal experiences with a wide audience propelled me into sharing aspects of my life. Richard Long’s work on journey’s instilled my thinking about personal representation, as well as Lauren Child’s style of working and Milva Maglione.

Each vinyl record I collaged is highly representational; I have used actual objects that represent people and places in my life. It was a long process, but each and every photograph, object, paper and colour is meaningful and symbolic. The work evolved through personal reflection and became a very therapeutic and personally, a highly emotive process.

I went on to develop album covers that represented each theme of the records that I collaged as a further point of reference to what I learnt from that specific situation. I incorporated text within each record to add feeling and content. Each album cover was carefully designed using varying typography relevant to the theme and mood of that which it represents for maximum impact and documentation within the overall piece. I developed the media used within each record to construct a 3D outcome that would add depth and interest to each individual piece and create interest as they hang together within the installation.