After Ross

Based on the portrait by Sir William Charles Ross: 'Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts' circa 1874, National Portrait Collection. Taken at the Geffrye Museum in the Mid-Victoria Period Room. After Ross is an image from a series of photographic portraits of the artist, which are based upon various well-known paintings from different periods of British art. The appropriate pose and costume of the female figure have been taken from the selected paintings and staged within a museum setting in a suitable period room or exterior location. The photographic image is then printed to the size of the original canvas to be exhibited within similar surroundings to its conception. The project as a whole aims to examine how portraiture has developed, and explores the social changes in the presentation of personal image. By illustrating this progression as a photographic image rather than a painted one, the comparison will be easier for a contemporary audience to associate with. Elements of painting are explored, from the theatrical devices used in 17th century, to the more satirical works of Hogarth in the Georgian era. The work aims to involve aspects of 'the museum and its presentation of our heritage'. The images are all taken within a museum setting and aim to bring a sense of reality to the environment. The work touches upon the part that galleries play in the comprehension of art, as well as exploring museum etiquette. By being on the stage presented in the period rooms, 'behind the rope' so to speak, creates a feeling of importance to the figure. This work looks to the role in which the contemporary artist can take within the heritage industry of today. The location of the final prints is an important aspect to this series and is a continuing concern of my practice as a whole and will shape how the viewer will interpret the works. This is an extension of the earlier 'At Work' project, a series where I took a role in contemporary society, within surroundings that were instantly recognisable and accepted by the viewer. Edition prints available at a different size.s from www.troikaeditions.co.uk