Chelsea : security, shelter, sanctuary

Abstract

Finding security and losing it, often goes hand in hand. It's a little like hide and seek. In response, we find ways to protect ourselves from loss but the truth is, loss is a part of life. It was a fire that tore Chelsea - my childhood home, and my family apart.

Rooted in my own personal experiences, this research addresses and questions where we as a Western society find our security, whether it be it in other people, belief systems, possessions or places. Given that death and decay are the natural progression for material life, my aim is to highlight that our attachment to such things in fact produces and induces loss and suffering. My house fire and its aftermath is used as a case study for investigating the role of Attachment Theory, and more specifically Place Attachment Theory, in our everyday lives. A number of artists whose practices have a relationship to mine are also examined within this paper.

To be faithful to this research, it was important that I engaged personally with others regarding their own attachments so as to have authentic data, forming the basis for a number of my works. This process was challenging for both the participants and myself, and yet at the same time gave me the opportunity to come to terms with my own loss, through the creation of various installations, video work, paintings and drawings.