I have recently completed a print project which I have titled ‘The Armchair Traveller Portfolio’ (I am sure you can see a trend here).
The project has focused on two key exemplars: the missionaries Mildred Cable, Francesca and Evangeline French, and the explorer Aurel Stein. In view of China’s growing emergence as a major power, it is timely to review how the motivation for these travellers influenced how they were perceived by the Chinese people, both at the time and now (e.g., were the missionaries selfless heroes or patronising meddlers, was Aurel Stein a tomb raider or inspired archaeologist?). This is to better approach future interaction.
The work is based on images that convey the key theme of travel as a means of arrival/escape, and what this means in the context of life journey, self-definition and development. The work includes:
- travel related symbols such as maps
- shadows, layers and reflections to convey transience and the multi dimensional nature of life itself
- geographic markers such as the Great Wall of China, deserts, watch towers, temples
- silhouettes of travellers in classic hero poses (e.g., with pith hat and natives)
- images incorporating the phoenix (symbol for renewal)
- abstraction of source materials (e.g., photographs, maps)
- rendering of narrative into visual format (e.g., ‘The Gate of Sighs’ is the name of a key point of exile from China into the Gobi desert)
- representation of artifacts retrieved by explorers
- use of text (e.g., titles of travel books, names of explorers)
- photographs of me incorporated into the final works
The works of two key artists have been major influences on this project:
- the recent Japanese film still inspired etchings of Thornton Walker
- the recent watercolor on drafting film paintings and etchings of Martin King
The print portfolio consists of an integrated set of 9 linocuts. The 9 linocuts consist of 3 sets of interrelated works. Each row relates to a specific person/set of explorers. Each column relates to particular life milestones or decision points.
– Row one relates to the life story of the missionary trio Mildred Cable and Francesca and Evangeline French.
- ‘Cable and French I’ reflects the key factors in their decision to leave the UK for China, inspired by religious ideals.
- ‘Cable and French II’ shows a major decision point, when they left their home of many years in China to travel through the ‘Gate of Sighs’ and across the Gobi Desert, to continue their missionary work
- ‘Cable and French III’ shows the end of life stage, when the trio have been exiled from China by the political unrest. The images show the honors they were awarded, and the books they wrote. The plant is a branch of the sand jujube flower, which Mildred Cable had pressed in a book. She wrote ‘whenever I catch its subtle but fading fragrance, I long for a place that seems so near and is yet so far away’[1]
– Row two relates to me, and shows my major life decisions at similar ages to those taken by the missionaries and Aurel Stein
- Work one relates to my life changing trip to China at age twenty (the same age that the missionaries left England for China)
- Work two relates to recent work choices
- Work three relates to the armchair traveller project, i.e., how I interrelate with the explorers via their books
– Row three features the key stages of the life of the explorer Aurel Stein
- Work one shows the factors behind his decision to leave Hungary for India
- Work two features a ruined watch tower, images of which he photographed during his travels
- Work three features the summation of his life’s achievements, showing the books he wrote, an image of the Diamond Sutra he found on his travels (the oldest dated woodblock book in existence), and his life in a tent
