FLOWERS FOR ETHEL (2009)
C-TYPE PRINT, 189 x 841 cm
BILLY IS A WIDOWER WHO LOST HIS WIFE ETHEL IN THE EARLIER MONTHS OF 2008 AGED 84. SINCE HER DEATH, ALL POSSESSIONS THAT BELONGED TO ETHEL AROUND THE HOUSE HAVE REMAINED UNTOUCHED AND THE CURTAINS CLOSED AS AS ACT OF MOURNING HIS LOSS. THESE MATERIAL OBJECTS NOW EXIST AS ARTIFACTS CARRYING A PRESENCE OF HUMANITY THROUGH BILLY'S EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT TO ETHEL, RESIDUAL TRACES OF PHYSICALITY THAT REMAIN OF HER WITHIN HIS IMMEDIATE ENVIRONMENT. THE IMAGES DO NOT PRIMARILY INTEND TO PORTRAY THE IMMEDIACY OF DEATH BUT MORE SO THE INNATE SENSE OF DENIAL AND NOSTALGIA THAT IS OFTEN ATTACHED TO IT WHEN A LOVED ONE PASSES AWAY, ALONGSIDE THESE THEMES THEY ARE A QUIET OBSERVATION OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH AND THE INFLUENCE OF PERSONAL SPACE.