Sue Anne Phelan: April 2009

Artist statement

This project has come about because of the death of my Grandfather, Martin Curry, in June 2010. I set about trying to become closer to him and trying to peel away some of the layers he had built up around himself, whilst at the same time create a memorial for him. I documented his home and the objects within it, especially those that were of importance to him. I documented the whole event at the time because I needed something between me and what was happening. The camera provided a safe “go between” so I was able to distance myself from the situation and also regain some control over it. According to Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, when a loved one dies we go through five stages of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. As this project progressed I experienced all of these emotions and my work reflects this. I had to learn how to be objective and to not let these emotions consume the work.

In the beginning I only had my film SLR and my digital SLR cameras plus a limited supply of film. I tried to use every shot as carefully as possible and to try not to overlook any detail. After three months I returned from Ireland and started working through the images. I had brought back some papers documents and clippings that I took from his house. This is when I started using a scanner. The images that the scanner makes are very different from a camera. The scanner works in a completely different way too. A normal camera takes in light from the environment and makes its image, a scanner however uses only its own laser as a light source and so this makes the images more real. It creates a bigger relationship between the image and the object by making the purest possible reflection of the image. There is nothing to interfere with the objects appearance in the images with all external light sources removed.

These beautiful images form a counterpoint to the poignant photographs. These images combined help create a diary of sorts showing the development of the work from its early raw state to the finished work. Once the book is published it will become something precious in contrast to its subject matter, death is usually something that we do not want to remember. I want this work to challenge the viewer's ideas of death, remembrance and their representation

Sue Anne Phelan

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