Catherine Knight

Artist statement

'In my photographic work I was always especially entranced by the moment when the shadows of reality, so to speak, emerge out of nothing on the exposed paper, as memories do in the middle of the night, darkening again if you try to cling to them, just like a photographic print left in the developing bath too long' (W.G.Sebald, Austerlitz)

Upon waking from a dream, the harder you try to recall details and events, the faster they disappear, leaving just a trace of a feeling that remains with you for the rest of the day.

My fascination with the process of sifting through old family photographs of people who are part of me, yet quite unknown, is the motivation behind these paintings. Created from found photographs together with guidebook images and postcards, these compositions toy with perspective and scale. They mirror how family histories and personal mythologies are half- remembered, smoothed over, and exaggerated over time.

In trying to piece together and make sense of my own history I come across gaps and holes where knowledge has been lost. Sontag has described the photograph as 'an imaginary possession of a past that is unreal' and this provides an entry point to my work.

Photographs ultimately offer limited information and their full story is not revealed. Made from images collaged together, mixing places, times and histories, the playfulness in the paintings creates new narratives and alternative realities.