This project has been created in collaboration with student Xiaoxue Chen, residents from a local history group, and the Digital Ambassadors group (from FACT Liverpool) as part of my recent AA2A Artist in residence project with University of Chester.

Always interested in the materiality of photography historically and our current relationship with the photographic image, I have more and more been exploring photography’s potential as surface pattern designs and textiles. For this recent AA2A residency I have had the pleasure of working with the textiles department and collaborating with student Xiaoxue (Anita) Chen.

Together we have created a new costume based work, which weaves the history and changing visual imagery of a local historic site, the canal side George Street Pocket Park. The work seeks to celebrate the untold story of Victorian working women who would of kept the local industry & ecology at the time alive.

I have also been working with on-going community collaborators, FACT’s Digital Ambassadors Over60s group, to gather stories and research about the pocket park sites history and current redevelopment. Thank you to Chester archives for letting us access your material which got this all started!

The video work produced shares a series of video bites (works in progress) edited alongside the process of making, which has taken place during this residency. I will be continuing to develop more work with the group in the area over the next 6 months where we will later showcase a final video work.