The Exiles

Paint on wood and mirrors, Meadow Arts Commission 2013

Castle entrance hall

Following her residency, Ellen Harvey has chosen to address the concepts of absence and exile. The Crofts lost their family seat for over a century before they were able to repurchase it.  Now, through the National Trust it ‘belongs’ to everyone. At the same time, the ownership granted to visitors is limited and fleeting; it exists in the realm of nostalgia, trapped in a past for which some yearn but from which we are all forever exiled.

A collection of oval mirrors in frames painted with views of Croft is arranged haphazardly over the imposing fireplace.  Visitors can see themselves inserted into the paintings, momentarily becoming the subjects of the painting, temporary lords of Croft, while other frames reflect only an uncomfortable emptiness.

 

About the artist

Ellen Harvey

Ellen Harvey exhibited in Time will Tell, Croft Castle, 2013, and In Ruins, Witley Court, 2019, and was commissioned by Meadow Arts for both exhibitions.

Image: Ellen Harvey, The Disappointed Tourist Shop, installation view, In Ruins, Whitley Court, 2019. Image courtesy of Meadow Arts. Photographer, Stefan Handy.