“It’s darker when the a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone” John Steinbeck

Going away

In January 2023 my Mother died and in this body of work I tried to disentangle my profound sense of pain at her loss from how I could still keep her near me. 

In February, following her cremation, we visited Derwent Water to allow a period of contemplation. It was there that I reflected on how she was no longer physically in my life and yet will always be present, there but not there, seen but not seen.

“A Veil” – Derwent Water, Lake District

In April 2023 we spread her ashes at Linton Stepping Stones, somewhere she had known all her life, and that she frequently returned to over the years. 

“Crossing the Divide” – Linton Stepping Stones, Threshfield, Yorkshire Dales

In the subsequent seasons the river assimilated her and her ashes would have passed unnoticed by all but those that knew.

“Witness” – The Strid, Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire Dales