Following the personal success of last term I have decided
to stay with the topic of immigration. It is a topic which has stuck with me
and so it makes sense to follow it to its ultimate conclusion, whatever or wherever
that may be.
The work from the first term was a major development for me.
Not only through my practice and its structure but also the way in which I relate,
emote and express my work. Regardless of mark, the last term was a success
story. From inception through to production my work captivated myself and from general
feedback from others in my studio, it was a genuinely captivating topic and means of
expressing myself. Something which I hadn’t really had at any point during
first year.
More than that, for the first time during my time at LICA, I
properly gave a damn about what I was actually working towards. The work just
felt right. The reason behind it and the method of approach all felt natural
and fluid. My work had meaning. From this it would seem a shear waste of passion and direction to discard
not only what I do but what I feel about this topic and the place it has in my
world and that of my art.
I am continuing with the topic of immigration; but rather
than mass numbers. It is time to look at the great journey. By which I mean the
trek from Aleppo to Dover. The modern day trail of tears that more than one million
people have made. Through desert, jungle, forest, towns and cities. All places
alien and foreign to them.
The journey is 4070 kilometers long. Passes though 229
towns, major cities and villages through 12 different nations. More than 50
miles worth of desert, rivers and forests lie in wait for those forced to make the trip and between those, the Mediterranean ocean - Europe's most dangerous - offers a land free but deadly alternative to the walk and it has claimed countless lives. When every step to freedom is a step further from a home, it is a joyless and desperate fight for life.
This impossible journey has captured my attention and I want
to discover how I can express and represent this most terrible of journeys.
This, the worst journey in the world.
