Undertow

Pauline Scott Garrett’s practice sits at an intersection between print, collage, moving image and photography. Her concerns deal with the palpable sense of loss, or identity discomfort, produced through dislocation, displacement, or exile. Within this context, flight and migration provide the key ideas and inspiration for the large-scale print works and multi-media pieces in this exhibition.

The artist undertook a 12-month research-residency here at RISE, a former chapel of worship and a continuing role as a place of refuge and sanctuary. Our chapel, once known as Zion Chapel, and the town of Frome provided shelter to several generations of people displaced by war or persecution. The research comprised an archival search of documents, newspaper reports and photographs, as well her personal collection of images, video, historical maps and ephemera. Drawing on this body of research the artist began to reinterpret historical narratives, layering images and forms in an intuitive, reflective manner to produce a series of large-scale experimental print works, followed by a new video and site-specific text collages.