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My name is Abi Atkinson and I like to experiment with my work, I mainly like on location shoots and architecture, but I also dabble in studio work and self-portraiture.
My main interests would be in abandoned buildings and telling the history of them. I find that information fascinating and it makes it so the images are not just showing the viewer an old building but its history as well.
But I've also struggled a lot with my own memory or lack thereof. It's really hard to explain and put into words how that makes me feel and how it affects my life. I found that being able to visualise and take pictures helped to get my point across and to have something tangible made it all the more real.
That Funny Feeling
This project has helped me to reckon with that and be able to explain it more easily to others.
Its not just being forgetful - it's entire pieces of my own history being erased. This project has been a very personal and vulnerable piece, about my own memories, the gaps and spaces where I don't remember who or where I was. It's scary having so much missing. I don't remember years of my life and what I did. This project is helping me give a visualization of that feeling and express it in a way that I and others can understand.
It's definitely been challenging but it's something I wanted to tackle in the third year, especially for myself. I struggle a lot with putting what I want to say and how I feel into words that make sense and when I do try I end up stuttering or just going mute. My throat closes up and I get so frustrated with myself I want to cry. But this project has helped me understand those feelings and reckon with it.
I'm hanging them from the ceiling so it's more 3D and tangible, using wire fencing to the walls and fishing line to attach a foam board so it can hang from the air.
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