Epsom photographer Adele Annett will be The Horton’s first Artist-in-Residence this August, launching a new programme to promote emerging artists and creatives.
Members of the public will be able to drop in to watch Artists in Residence at work on-site, get involved in conversations and participate in the development of the artist’s creative project.
From 10th -23rd August Adele will be exhibiting her photographic series ‘Fragments’ which considers our ever-shifting identities. The portraits are physically disrupted to represent the influence that people and media have on our sense of self.
Visitors are invited to take a walk through a series of images which contemplate the ideas of identity, stereotypes and who we are. The exhibition considers how our identity is in a continuous state of flux as we interact with society, media and the people around us. It questions what we are willing to change about ourselves in order to fulfil the human desire to find a sense of belonging.
Contributions will be collected anonymously to create a collective response to the ideas presented in the exhibition.
Adele will be photographing visitor’s responses on Friday 11th, Saturday 12th, Friday 18th and Saturday 19th August. She will also be running two Hockney-inspired collage workshops for children.
Come and join the discussion, chat with the artist and be a part of her new work.
Fragments Artist’s Statement:
Can we imagine a world where none of the categorisations of identity exist? Who would we be? What could we let go of? What stereotypes and expectations would we most like to be free from?
Just as a photograph becomes defined as the physical object itself, the specific moment in time it was taken, what is included within the frame (as well as what was left out), and the vantage point from which it was taken. Our identity can be defined by our physical appearance, traits and characteristics that we choose to reveal, and the way we position ourselves in the world at a specific moment in time.
Both can be thought of as a representation of truth, whilst at the same time not being the only truth. And both can be interpreted and misinterpreted by the viewer depending on the lens of their own experiences, judgements and beliefs that alter their perceptions and how they view the world.
This artwork plays with the ideas of what a photograph is and what it can be, whilst posing similar questions about what we think of as identity. Society has created categories, subcategories and rules of what is required to conform to certain identities, and with it, we become bound by stereotypes and expectations. We adjust our behaviour accordingly. The work questions the notion of a fixed and stable identity and emphasises the fluid and contingent nature of what we think of as the “self”. It highlights the various ways in which we construct and perform our identities in different contexts and the ways in which our identities are mediated by others
Through this photographic series, I hope to encourage viewers to reflect on the social dynamics that shape our understanding of ourselves and others.
Adele Annett
The Horton’s architectural heritage and the stories of the people who lived worked at Epsom’s Hospital Cluster has been an inspiration to many, and we hope, through our new Artist in Residence programme, to inspire artists and visitors alike to explore their own journey of creativity and wellbeing.
