Viewing Death Through a Creative Lens
Join us for a discussion with artists Judy Goldhill and Dr. Jane Wildgoose, Keeper of the Wildgoose Memorial Library (WML), as they discuss interconnections between their creative processes, in response to the aftermath of death, across a range of media and time scales. For Judy, these are pictorial rites of mourning: where light, ghosts and translucency meld into photographic, film and book forms. For Jane, the WML is an accumulation of reference material that informs her work as an artist and writer: a constantly evolving work in progress in which she focuses on the material culture of mourning and the history of collecting.
Jane and Judy are part of a peer mentoring group that meets regularly to explore common interests in the ways in which perceptions of death may interconnect with creativity.
The event will be introduced by Dr Giuseppe Albano, Director of the Freud Museum.
Speakers
Judy Goldhill Having completed a BA in Fine Art, Judy went on to be picture Editor of the British Journal of Photography and co-editor of Creative Camera. Following a career as a photojournalist, she graduated from Central Saint Martins with a Masters in Fine Art in 2007. A fascination with dark skies led to residences with the National Optical Astronomy Observatory at Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona, at Cerro Tololo for the launch of the Dark Energy Camera in Chile, and at the Mauna Kea Observatories in Hawaii. She was artist in residence in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCL from 2015-2019, and has participated in a wide range of exhibitions, both collaborative and solo, showing wall-based photographs, video installations, artists’ books and assemblages. Judy’s book works explore movement, stillness and repetition. Her artist’s books have been acquired by numerous collections, including Tate, V&A, The New York Public Library, Yale University’s Robert B. Haas Arts Library and MACBA. Her complete collection was acquired by The British Library for its Contemporary British Published Collections.
She has presented two exhibitions of photographs at the Freud Museum: Lauderdale Mansions/Ha’Atzmaut, an exhibition and artist’s book representing place and home, making visible the cultural memories attached; and Breathe, an exhibition examining early parental loss: the death of her father when a baby, and the imagery that subsequently emerged.
Dr Jane Wildgoose is an artist and art historian who combines research into the history of collecting with heartfelt investigations into the material culture of mourning. Her practice based PhD (a comparative study of the collection and objectification of human skulls for museums, and the role of human hair in mourning jewellery, in late nineteenth-century London) was undertaken in the School of Art & Design History and awarded by Kingston University London in 2015.
Jane works to commission with historic collections and has exhibited at Sir John Soane’s Museum, Kensington Palace, and Waddesdon Manor in the UK and Yale Center for British Art, and the Institute for Contemporary Art at MECA, in the USA; she has also exhibited at the Crypt Gallery St Pancras and West Norwood Cemetery. Her research is published with Negative Press.
Her current work, Seeing Truth in Museums, in collaboration with Artquest and Conway Hall, has been commissioned by the University of Connecticut and is funded by the Luce Foundation.
Complement your visit to the Freud Museum with one of our weekly tours or talks led by staff, volunteers and guest speakers.
The talks are free with your admission ticket. Book your admission ticket now!
The event will be held on the first floor of the Museum during regular opening hours. Unfortunately, the Freud Museum does not currently have step-free access. Advance booking is highly recommended, as capacity is limited.
Concessions/Members/Patrons: Please show proof of eligibility/membership card on arrival.
