Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
University of Brighton
Cities in transition
Stibbon’s research takes an anthropological approach to drawing and to the construction of visual images as a means to capture, communicate and question the volatility, fragility and instability of landscapes, whether urban or remote.
Influenced by the writings of W.G. Sebald and Walter Benjamin, Stibbon positions herself in the role of ‘artist as witness’. Making connections between memory, history and cycles of architectural destruction, construction and reconstruction, ‘Cities in Transition’ consists of a series of visual essays that capture transition and change through subject, surface and compositions.
Her documentary processes include extensive multiple site visits, drawing from direct observation, the collection of found objects, photography, moving image and archival study. Stibbon then uses research to inform the construction of her visual documents. Combining craft techniques, such as printmaking and woodcuts, with a detailed and reflective drawing process, Stibbon furnishes her work a feeling of both texture and depth. The surface of the drawings often appears fragile and unstable. Stibbon presents an uncanny realism that invites viewers to enter and share her observations and experiences of the places she encounters, distinguishing her work from other forms of indexical or documentary forms of representation.
‘Cities in Transition’ was supported by Ilse-Augustin Foundation and the British Council, and a Grants for the Arts Award. The output consists of 46 woodcuts, pencil and chalk drawings, and prints that focus on the patina of history embodied in the changing architecture and landscapes of Berlin, capturing visually the traces of political and social upheaval that the location embodies.
Stibbon’s work has featured in solo and group exhibitions across Europe, and has been reprinted in a number of publications, including the monograph ‘Emma Stibbon: StadtLandschaften’. Stibbon has given talks on her research at the Stadtmuseum (Berlin), Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Brighton.
SEE DIGITAL PORTFOLIO.
