My work Beyond the Pale explores a narrative around territory, land and belonging on the Anglo-Scottish border and beyond, and is inspired by me walking the length of this border during an artist’s residency in Northumberland in 2016.
The 100-mile-long border covers a region with the most national parks, darkest skies and least population in the country, but also includes the military installations of the west coast, upland hill farming of the Cheviots and the largest manmade forest in the UK.
Making this walk alone, I gathered a wealth of material about life on the border including historical archives, contemporary news, border ballads and video. I met and interviewed people who live on both sides of the line, learning about their relationship with place, past and present and their underestimated cultural identity as Borderers.
The walk coincided with the Brexit vote and I discovered that the border continues to be a focus of debate over sovereignty raising issues of nationalism and identity, which is reflected in the anxiety over the refugee crisis and international political zeitgeist.
Beyond the Pale uses photography, drawing, mapping and text-based art to build a poignant body of work questioning the notion of nationhood and landscape in the 21st century. The photographs can be viewed as familiar pastoral images but also otherworldly, depicting suspenseful and psychologically charged places that radiate their own violent history. The landscapes can also feel timeless, even primordial, offering a sense of permanence that can allay current political anxieties.
The rigorous approach to the drawings and map works is a way of seeking order within an overwhelming world. Attempting to hand draw the fleeting and magical phenomenon of a murmuration of starlings or the vascular-like flow of the watercourses, points to a nostalgic endeavour in a digital age, when orbiting satellite are constantly recording and transmitting our attempts to get lost.
Selected images from Zoe’s Beyond the Pale series are shown below. (click to view image at full size / format)
ABOUT ZOE CHILDERLEY
Zoe Childerley has been working as an artist using photography and mixed media for over 10 years. She also Lectures at Brighton University and has a strong record in community projects. Her work is developed by interaction with different communities; reflecting a vision of the world concerned with identity, belonging and our relationship to the land and its stories. Zoe has exhibited nationally and internationally and undertaken numerous commissions and residencies in Italy, California, Colorado, Nepal, Jamaica and across the UK.
Zoe explores the narrative potential of photography in relation to its abstract capacities, and now include drawing, text, mapping and moving image. Projects are developed by interaction with different communities and inspired by everyday stories; reflecting a vision of the world concerned with identity, belonging and our relationship to the land. She is interested in how the landscape shapes society, how “place” is deconstructed, augmented, discussed and experienced, particularly in the context of mythmaking. Collaboration is important, with the communities I’m working in and other practitioners. It’s an opportunity for skill sharing and interdisciplinary working, encouraging reflective practice and widening perspective.
Website: www.zoechilderley.co.uk
Instagram: @zoechilderley
EXHIBITIONS
Beyond the Pale will be at Gracefield Arts Centre in Dumfries from 9th Feb to 23rd March
Images of a previous installation of the exhibition are shown below. (click to view image at full size / format)
CREDITS
Unless otherwise stated, all words and images in this article are © Zoe Childerley
