White Mirror

2018

‘The weight of history is heavy, painful and always present’.

(Liz Phillips, Seeing White).

This work was made during a one month artist residency in Wilson; North Carolina, USA. A uniquely financed project, supported by local residents to regenerate the cultural landscape of a once thriving economy. During the height of the 20th century, Wilson was marketing itself as ‘The World’s Greatest Tobacco Market’, though until 1880, tar and turpentine were the main cash crops. While cotton and tobacco began to gain more market share after 1880, cotton became the main cash crop between 1880-1892, then overtaken by tobacco.

‘White Mirror’ represents found photographs of tobacco farming, sourced from a local antique store, alongside a selection of the host family’s personal archive. Past memory is evidenced, while present lives are detailed through objects, artwork and private interiors.