The work for my degree show follows a narrative based on Angel Meadow, once one of the Victorian era's worst slums and now a burial site for thousands of bodies. Today, it exists as a park without a single piece of evidence or commemoration for the people buried beneath it. The inspiration for my work comes from the final sentence of a book that tells the true stories of the hundreds of individuals who lived and worked in the slum. The sentence says, "But if you sit long enough on a bench in the Old Burying Ground on a winter's evening and peer across at the upper windows of the Chartered Street school, something happens. The ghosts of the past start tugging at your sleeve, begging you to listen to their story."

​

When initially asked to plan for the degree show, I lacked a clear vision of how I wanted to present my work, so I initially requested a large wall space. However, I later created an additional piece, a banner that greets visitors as they enter the room, which I wanted to include. Since all the spaces had already been assigned, I had to collaborate with fellow students and tutors to ensure that my work was placed correctly—both visually and in alignment with the intended narrative. We decided that the best location for the banner was hanging high to the left as you enter the room. Its window-facing position allows the light to shine through, revealing the screen-printed bench from both sides.

​

The bench holds significant symbolic meaning within the artwork as it represents the thoughts I want to evoke in viewers. It symbolises concepts of time and history, as well as providing a space to pause, reflect, and observe one's surroundings. Benches are often used as memorials for people's lives, and it holds particular significance as the author chose it as the final sentence of the book. Initially, I had another piece that I wanted to include in the show. However, upon observing the works of my neighboring artists and considering the overall cohesion of the exhibition space, I felt that including it would be overwhelming and detract from the narrative I aimed to convey. Therefore, I decided to leave it out of the show.

​

I particularly like the current placements of the artwork. When entering the room, viewers first read the banner, then proceed around the corner to encounter the bench and the screen-print of the 'Chartered Street Ragged School,' along with the smaller window pieces that can be "peered" at.

​

I experimented with various placements of the bench and artwork, trying them separately against the wall and with the shirt piece. I knew that I wanted the shirt on the washing line to be part of the show as it resonated with the narrative, evoking the image of lanes filled with dirty clothes hanging from wall to wall in the slum. We finalised that the shirt would hang freely on the wall with the washing line strings suspended, while the bench would be positioned away from the wall, facing it and central in the space. Moving the piece away from the wall opened up the space and allowed the viewer's gaze to explore different parts of the room, rather than solely focusing on the wall. Additionally, the blue hues in the piece complemented the neighboring artist's thread installation pieces, which were predominantly blue and white.

​

Upon moving the pieces away from the wall, I realised that they couldn't stand on their own leaning against the bench. To address this, I used a protractor to measure the angles of the bench and how I wanted the pieces to lean, and then I cut two wooden wedges to prop them up and hold them in place as desired.

​

Overall, the setup of the degree show has provided me with valuable insights into the role of a curator. Collaborating with other talented artists to showcase our diverse pieces in a collective manner, while staying true to the narrative I wish to convey through my own work, is a skill that I will carry forward into my professional practice.