Judith Forrest

The Great Indoors

This is what happens when you are reluctant to leave the house; whole landscapes can be imagined from a few props placed on the green Formica table top and a lamp substitute for the sun or the moon. Within these smaller landscapes many things can be manipulated and objects made to speak not just for themselves but for a whole visual family bound together by form or function. Sewing machines are no longer a luxury item; once their design suggested the women who used them; highly adorned and curvy for the Victorian lady and streamlined boxy like the couture of the mid 20^thc. Our kitchen equipment is made to last no longer than the IKEA cupboard that stores it. What possessive joy can such temporary pleasure bring? We were once proud to own these things.  By creating small landscapes I can make the remnants of this remembered life into a familiar scene. Here inside the house I can re imagine what most of us have forgotten and simple tasks like washing a doll are a trigger for remembrance that leads back into our histories.

I like to set the stage and to indulge my need to make physical that which was once out of reach. I still remember the fabulous flamenco dancer beside the sherry bottle in the off-licence window, the mysterious religious sculptures glimpsed in Catholic churches and the elegant lemon squeezer recalls the art deco designs of buildings beside the coast. In my interior world I can embrace them all.