The House That Remembers
Some places seem to hold on to their stories, even long after the people who lived there have gone.
There is something rather wonderful about a ruin. A building that has lost its roof, its windows, perhaps even its purpose, but somehow hasn't lost its character.
Appuldurcombe House, here on the Isle of Wight, is one of those places.
When I was invited to take part in Rediscover Your Landscape, an exhibition curated by Trudie Wilson as part of Can You Hear Us, I was immediately intrigued.
The idea of creating something inspired by a particular place appealed to me enormously. So much of my work begins with curiosity, with noticing little things that might otherwise be overlooked. And here was an entire house filled with possibilities.
But I didn't arrive at the house with a finished idea.
In fact, I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking for.
I wandered through the empty rooms, observing the way sunlight fell across the stone floors, the textures of the weathered walls and the plants quietly reclaiming the grounds.
I found myself thinking about all the lives that had passed through this place. The things that had been lost, the things that remained and the stories that might still be hiding in its walls.
And somewhere along the way, an idea began to take shape.
Not to recreate the house as it once was, but to imagine a little piece of another world existing within it.
An artist's apothecary. A place of observation, experimentation and collected curiosities.
A place that might almost have been forgotten among the ruins.
I think this is one of my favourite parts of any creative project. That moment before you really know what you're making, when everything is still a possibility.
Sometimes the most interesting ideas arrive when you stop trying so hard to find them.
Next time: Gathering the Ghosts of a Place.