After six long years of hard work, the output from my final project as an undergraduate student on the BA (Hons) Photographic Practice course at Cardiff Metropolitan University is finished! It’s on display at The Senedd until June 4th, and at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Llandaff Campus on Western Avenue until June 1st, along with work from other graduating students.
Inspired by Multani tile art from the middle – and far – east and Moorish architecture from Africa, my images were painstakingly constructed from scanned images of broken and dirty pottery and glass.
The project started life after digging to lay some turf in our Queen Street garden a couple of years ago, when we unearthed a surprisingly large haul of broken bits. It included 138 pieces of pottery, 40 pieces of glass, 2 (empty) shotgun cartridges, and a rusty nail (obligatory!). I was fascinated by the history of the large and varied collection, and started thinking about who put them there and what they originally came from. I decided to keep them with the intention of creating something fresh and appealing out of something broken and dirty. This project turned out to be it!
It’s likely that the area that is now our garden was used as a rubbish pit before the house was built around 1947. If anyone has any knowledge or pictures that might help reveal its history, I would be pleased to hear it.
If you are not able to view the images in person, a limited slideshow can be seen on my Facebook page.
Debs, you go from strength to strength. You inspire me ?