Research trip to Winchester: Location drawing

                           

                      

                      

                                       

My trip to Winchester was inspired by my research into paper cutting and paper sculpture. This was a technique I want to develop from previous projects, where I had use the laser cutter and created props and masks out of paper. Whilst reading up on the history of paper cutting, It was stated that many gothic churches incorporated paper cut stencils into their interior design. I was intrigued to see if the shapes and structures of Church interior would inspire my practice and spark ideas for making.

I chose to go to Winchester for the Cathedral, as from what I could remember from previous visits the building had plenty of gothic imagery and intricate interiors. It also seemed relevant the city as it was where Jane Austen (The Author of Persuasion- The text my project is based upon) died and was buried.

There was lots of beautiful imagery to be found throughout the city, a mixture between its medieval history and additional architecture that had been added most likely in the 19th Century. In the Cathedral itself, the application of patterned structure on the ceilings reminded me a lot of paper cuts and the intricate wooden structures in the quire (oldest part of the Cathedral) looked as if they could be replicated for a set design as a city skyline.

On my walk around the city, I came across two iron-wrought clocks. Both had very intricate and gothic designs. It made me think about the reference to time passing in Persuasion. Both the indication that eight years has passed since Anne being persuaded to break off her engagement with Frederick Wentworth and over that time she supposedly 'lost her bloom'. This is possible idea to consider in my visual response to the text.

After visiting the house in which Jane Austen had died, I was curious to find any more information on Jane Austen and connections to the time in which the novel was written (1818). The Winchester Public library offered not much on Jane Austen, however had a very useful book on silhouette portraiture (British Silhouette Artists and their work by Sue McKechnie), popular among middle classes between 1760-1860. I was intrigued by the varied materials used in this technique, in particular the idea of painting silhouettes on glass and ivory.