Incorporating archive family footage made in rural Scotland, Lee’s work involves performance, text and visual imagery to build a fragmented response to a site she inhabited during a residency at Cove Park in Scotland. The artist spent many hours documenting, gathering and recording at Linn Botanic Gardens. A public garden who’s own histories become entwined with the personal narrative of the artist.
As part of Always something moves, Lee presents a new collaborative artwork at Manchester Central Library on Saturday 8 February. Working with SHE Choir, the artist has written and produced a new arrangement combining words and phrases from forgotten books in the library with her own personal writing. The work will be performed through various spaces within the library building.
A solo exhibition of new works will be presented at Bankley Gallery, presenting visual records from Linn Botanic Gardens alongside texts that weave together archival fragments and personal references. In this work, Lee examines the structuring of time frames, the interpretation of place and the location and relocation of memory.
Sophie Lee commented: “Grounding myself and my own memories in landscapes explored as a child, I came across Linn while on residency. I felt a strong connection to this space. Learning about its wild, slightly chaotic and hugely diverse garden and its owner brought into focus my feelings of loss and change, growth and renewal.”
Mark Devereux added: “This personal and resonant project brings to the fore the fragility of our memory. Sophie has created a collection of works that spur us to cherish, protect and conserve everything we hold important. The work created melds personal experiences with responses to public memories and collections.”