Woodford Academy Artist Residency 2022

I engaged in a 3 month artist residency at one of Australia’s oldest historic houses, Woodford Academy (1810) . I focused my research on the diary entries of  former resident Henrietta McManamey (Ettie) who lived at the academy between 1907 and 1913.  Her 2 year diary was written between 1910-1912 and ended shortly before her death. This historic record was compiled by National Trust historian Kate O’Neill.

Ettie’s diary entries sparked my curiosity as I read accounts of her daily activities which included her deep fascination with Haley’s comet visible in the night sky in 1910. Ettie’s emotions, movements and dreams within Woodford Academy became a series of photographs of my sculptures combined with historical objects found in the house. This ‘Theatrical Surrealist time capsule expands fragmented historical and contemporary narratives of women, domesticity and the struggle to push beyond  the confines of their sex and politics of the day.

My work in the space has so far been an exploration and playful integration of my sculpture into the rooms of Woodford Academy. I absorbed by the diary entries as emotional interior-scapes of women over time, evoking feelings of entrapment, wonder, dreams and loss which transcend time and place.

I have been actively engaging with Ettie’s stories as a kind of ‘Surrealist time capsule’ within the rooms of the Academy.