When I was a child it was my father who put me to bed and told me bedtime stories. These were of his WW2 experiences in the Burma Campaign. He shared his experiences and I became the recipient of stories of violence, trauma and strange and exotic lands. The Burma conflict was primarily jungle warfare; the conditions were awful, mud, dense undergrowth, tropical diseases and an unfathomable, unbeatable enemy. The twelve mixed media panels illustrate a remembered story or an iconic object and the effect they had on me as a little girl. The four archive cases document episodes from my father’s wartime experience and contain objects from my personal archive.
Eiderdown:
Oil, acrylic, mica, cast resin on wood
The path of glory?:
Oil, acrylic, carved wood
Monsoon cape:
Oil, acrylic, linen on wood
Silver bullet:
Oil, cast bullets, metal leaf on wood
Pierced by bamboo:
Oil, acrylic, linen, cast resin on wood
‘If I hadn’t killed him’:
Oil, acrylic, metal leaf and carved wood
There are leeches in the jungle:
Oil, acrylic, metal leaf, cast resin on wood
Ancient Burma! Land of Mystery:
Oil & acrylic on wood
Don’t cry out:
Oil, acrylic, linen, silk on wood
They breed in dark & stagnant pools:
Oil, acrylic, inlay, and parchment on wood
Eaten Alive:
Oil, acrylic, cast resin, glass eyes on wood
Hands up:
Oil, acrylic, cast bullets, mica, fabric on wood
Service Man:
Archive material, facsimiles, insignia in board case
Embarkation:
Archive material, facsimiles, in board case
Another World:
Archive material, facsimiles, ruby quartz in board case
Jungle Warfare:
Archive material, facsimiles, dog tag, button in board case