A fundamental thought to much of my work has been that empire is still a largely unacknowledged element to English culture. And that includes to liberal arts. This Loon was copied from a watercolour in a facsimile of a book tracking the activities of British colonists in the Americas – in between their visits to their ‘interests’ in Ireland. Natural History, painting, and scientific illustration / botanical illustration have roots in these projects. They feed each other much as early anthropology and theories of race, eugenics, and ‘survival of the fittest’ – ideologies posed as science – are worked in to grading people according to worth and worthlessness. The primary values actually being use according to coloniser and exploiter. As in: the same values placed on the population of England — Britain. Dividing the human entity from the collective, and dividing the subject; the ‘not’ bourgeois into facets useful and not useful…..
There were a couple of clear successes in this show. My favourite was a couple of students who popped in. Both initially coming from exUSSR states, one from Ukraine and the other from Uzbekistan, they both said they loved the show. The Uzbekistani said she had done a similar thing for her a-levels – excellence at every level – her perspective was that of someone who’s culture was at the receiving end of Russian colonialism. They both were very enthusiastic. And despite the occasionally obtuse way I had attempted to describe my intent – had understood before speaking to me (not in their first languages) – my praxis. It’s nice to be seen.
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