Things Left behind                      <<back

An exhibition at Sheffer Gallery in July/August 2011 of new works by Ulrike Sturm and Heather Meyerratken.

Ulrike and Heather have been friends for many years. Whilst skyping with one another in early 2011, they realised that their current work relates to traces and memories of childhood, albeit in very different ways, they decided to collaborate with a joint exhibition.

Ulrike is currently a Masters candidate in Printmedia at Sydney College of the Arts. Her work combines image and text to explore ideas around the experience of migration and childhood memories.

"I am interested in looking at the role of language in identity and cultural connection. I arrived in Australia as a small child and was completely bewildered to find myself in this new land where I understood no-one and no-one understood me. Picture books became my refuge from the confusion around me. Through my work, I seek to explore how fragmented childhood memories build up identity, and how certain events can be a catalyst to shift one's idea of self in unexpected directions."

Often working with text and with diary-like stories and images, Ulrike's work for this project is a series of linocuts. A limited edition book accompanies her prints.

Heather is an Australian artist based in the busy artist hub, Shoreditch, East of London and she is currently researching for her Masters in Printmaking at Camberwell University, London.

Her work is concerned fundamentally with memory, loss and identity - things left behind, remnants of people's lives. Her research project ihas the working title 'Objects and Orphans'. The Foundling Museum in London has provided much of the material to enable the initial ideas for work to present them selves.

In the 1700's, Orphans were left at The Foundling Hospital on the basis of a lottery. Women who could not support their children would approach an officer at the hospital. On their arrival they would be asked to draw a ball out of a bag. The color of the ball represented whether the child could stay or not. Black was for 'no', white signaled 'yes' and red was a 'maybe'.

If successful, before leaving the children behind the mothers were asked to leave an identifier with the officials. These objects took many forms for example: keys, hearts, watch - rings, just to name a few. Fabric also played a strong part in this system of indentification. The women would sometimes remove fabric from the child's clothing and also their own dresses. These were then pinned into the record books. All of these objects were carefully catalogued and are still archived today at the London Metropolitan Archives.

Orphans have always been part of society throughout the history of the world. In 18th century London, these vulnerable babies were often left on the streets amongst piles of rubbish - disease was a rapid killer. These babies were often associated with Shame and Sin, and were born from all classes.

Today Orphans are more likely to be the result of a war torn country or a natural disaster. For example: the Haiti earthquake, cyclone Katrina and more recently the Japanese earthquake.

Provoking an emotional response is the fundamental objective within this work. We as viewers cannot stand and stare at an abandoned child or person in the street for very long without it becoming unacceptable, however this work allows one to stand and perhaps contemplate the plight of these foundlings of the past and orphans of today.

Spatially the work talks about the 'aloneness' and abandonment. I purposefully chose Japanese paper to allow the image to emulate a sense of fragility – maybe something that could easily be destroyed. Tearing the edges of the paper adds to the temporary throw away feel of this work. I look to John Cage as a constant influence - the element of chance and letting go of tradition.

Over all the imagery in this work is a response to the pamphlets we find in our mail today. We as a society have become desensitized to these images - invariably and ironically they end up as garbage.

England had four foundlings in 2010, three of whom died.

Within these works, 'Things Left Behind', Meyerratken explores the use of etchings and sculptures as a medium to reference the Foundlings and found objects.