THE TRACKS SERIES OF PRINTS: A Garden to Reflect a Clandestine Faith
THE TRACKS SERIES OF PRINTS:
A Garden to Reflect a Clandestine Faith
The 'Tracks' Series is about recording various events. Wherever possible old footwear forms the basis for the whimsical engravings. Some of the shoes and boots used have a history that links them to the place, time, and the area they depict. Others use materials or artefacts which allude to the place and time, linking the memories to physical objects. The unconventionality of the approach is meant to show the flexibility and fun of relief printing, as well as create a body of work which has a unique corporeal quality. The standard printing plate is replaced by functional objects that are engraved, gouged and otherwise scored to create a relief print. This approach is rooted in my research on past family histories and archives and aims to extend into the area of personal testimony and commemoration. A geographical map location and coordinates are provided with each relief print.
About three years ago, on a weekend away, we stumbled across a National Trust property that affected me very deeply. It was Lyveden New Bield. nLyveden remains incomplete and virtually unaltered since work stopped in 1605. The history of the house and the owner Lord Tresham is fascinating. I was already in another world when I stumbled into the replanted orchard. I have never felt more respect for the conservators and scientists that work with the National Trust as I did that day.
The beautiful 'decorative' rather than defensive moats and the small mounds that were designed to enjoy the vistas around the house, were completely full of soil and debris when they were dredged and reclaimed/ reconstructed. In them, pollen from Lord Tresham's time helped to establish the kind of trees that were cultivated.
From the National Trust website: [We] 'began re-planting the orchard at Lyveden, taking inspiration from contemporary records and Tresham's letters to his workmen. We can see from these letters that Tresham planned to include apples, pears, and damsons as well as a 'walk' of cherries and walnuts.
The orchard now features over 300 trees of 19 different varieties planted in formal avenues. Some of the species, such as the Winter Queening apple, were listed in Tresham's letters. Others were recorded locally in the early sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.'
Seeds were found in seed libraries and replanted, to create a replica of what existed in his time.
A keen gardener and a devout Catholic Thomas Tresham incongruously had close links with Queen Elizabeth I. When imprisoned for his faith, he continued to choose plants and send instructions back to his estate gardeners for planting and to his builders for the construction of his Lyvendon New Build, a house replete with Catholic iconography, hidden deep in a remote part of the countryside.
My print below was made to reflect something of this beautiful estate and Thomas Tresham's love of nature, with elements of the landscape and the reclamation of his story.
The work is engraved into a pair of wellington boots used in our garden. I wanted to create something that had links to the land and the activities related to land and nature conservation and I decided to experiment by engraving my print into the boot material. I had to find areas that could be flattened and engraved, and I did this by dissecting and engraving the boots as shown below.
You can read more about this remarkable National Trust property here:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lyveden?campid=Affiliates_Central_OnlineShop_AWIN_Standard&awc=3974_1607369862_df9f65cea42d1a24fa382c81ca6f9936
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