Through my hollow drawings, I aim to create a revelatory experience of a life that feels both present and elusive.
My work is inspired by personal objects, costumes, letters, and portraits associated with Mary Louise Roosevelt Burke, the 19th-century chatelaine of Cliffe Castle in Yorkshire and the American wife of textile magnate Henry Butterfield. Her early death ignited a passionate response from her widower, leading him to construct an extravagant fairy-tale castle as a monument to her memory.
Commissioned by Bradford Museums & Galleries and supported by Arts Council England and MLA Renaissance Yorkshire, this site-specific exhibition at Cliffe Castle Museum is the culmination of my year-long residency in 2010-11.
