This work mixes documentary photography and drawing to tell a story about the much-deliberated American journey, the search for a better life and peoples connection with the land. It was made during an artist residency in Southern Colorado, where there has been a constant flux of migration since the first settlers. Pioneers headed west seeking their fortune during the Gold Rush, eventually setting up homesteads and ranches; later people were brought from all over the world to work in the coalmines. The counterculture children of the 1960s were attracted by the beauty and isolation of the San Luis valley and founded the hippy communes. Migrant communities came and went chasing the American Dream, some staying behind to form diverse communities. Despite the downturn in fortunes the people who remain are steadfast in their love for the land, still determined to reject the system and cling to the once promised freedom of the wild west. zoechilderley.co.uk
This is a joint show as part of the 10X10 Exhibition Programme with Jon Kahoe whose project explores the notion of sampling (with a machine that reprocesses with light-waves in place of sound-waves), in relation to city space.
Runs 1-12 October 2013
Private View Wednesday, 2nd October, 6.30-8.30pm
Four Corners
121 Roman Rd
Bethnal Green
London E2 0QN
Nearest tube: Bethnal Green