THE PATTERAN (2023)

Chlorophyll print series 2023

As a house-dwelling person of Romany Heritage, I sense within myself, a deep genetic connection to travelling, coupled with strong political beliefs about freedom. As an artist working with the Chlorophyl process, I’m drawn to the tradition of the Patteran - a trail of coded messages, often made from twigs or leaves, left at stopping places by Gypsies in bygone wagon and tent-dwelling days. Recently, whilst reflecting upon this theme, I found an envelope containing a handful of 40 year-old railway tickets.

Throughout the 1980s, I worked as a theatrical designer; a rootless itinerant, travelling the length and breadth of the UK rail network. For tax purposes I had to hold on to my tickets but, even after that obligation had long-passed, I couldn’t bring myself to throw them away. Each of my tickets, with randomly torn edges or ticket-punched incisions, is a unique, abstracted relic of a human, analogue interaction that’s disappearing as automation marches on. Some of the leaves I’ve printed on have been damaged by insects. This echoes the punched and torn tickets - a symmetry that I find both meaningful and satisfying. I’m working with Bogbean; a plant that’s overtaking the tiny pond next to my garden studio. The shape of a Bogbean leaf is reminiscent of an eye, suggesting the act of viewing, possibly through a train window or camera lens.

A Chlorophyl print may be perceived as static, but its materiality embodies movement; in time it will fade and curl, then turn to dust. A ticket is a static object that facilitates travel. Not intended to last forever, many were printed with fugitive red ink that fades when exposed to sunlight, during the Chlorophyl printing process. Accepting impermanence within a creative practice prompts deep reflection upon loss and letting go. Does it matter if the trail of coded messages I send out through my work - my patteran - will one day be dust in the wind?

Nettie Edwards 2023