A Year in the Life of Valentines Park by Andrew Wright

Starting on Sunday 6 April, our art gallery will showcase a local teacher turned photographer, Andrew Wright.  For one whole year, Andrew took photographs of Valentines Park which he has now turned into a striking display. The kaleidoscopic images explore patterns in the park, and entice the viewer to observe, explore and decipher his various creations.

About Andrew (in his own words)

Despite having lived and studied in quite a few places around the UK, it is safe to say that Redbridge has predominated more than anywhere else.

I taught Art at Beal and Ilford County across a range of media, including painting and drawing, printmaking and ceramics, and was lucky enough to encounter many talented students and teachers from which I learnt a great deal.

One stand-out memory was the large ‘stamp’ created to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. Ilford County students collaborated by bringing in stamps, featuring the six decades of her reign, which we then combined in a collaged portrait of the Queen. It was a delight to see the Queen’s smiling face when she viewed the stamp on her visit to Valentines Park in 2012.

It wasn’t until I retired fully from teaching at Gearies Adult Institute that I was able to refocus on my interest in photography, which I had previously studied as part of my fine art degree course back in the 1980s.

 

With the additional challenge of keeping a lively dog entertained, it seemed very sensible to combine dog walking with my photography, and Valentine Park seemed the perfect location for both.

 

As you may imagine, the world of photography had moved on, and I decided to keep things simple and concentrate on digital photography using my quite basic Android phone.

 

I have always admired the work of William Morris, I started to consider the concept of exploring the pattern of life in the park. Determined to keep my dog fit, it seemed quite reasonable to simply take a photograph a day for a year to ensure a visit to the park.

 

While I sought to vary the location in the park, I seemed drawn to some specific areas such as the tennis courts and their refurbishment. I wanted to capture the changing seasons and weather conditions with variations in the warmth of colour and intensity of light. I was also interested in portraying people in the park in a more anonymous manner. 

In addition to the daily photographs, I also enjoyed collaging twigs, leaves, and other items to form the basis of my Creepy CrawLies images.

When the Queen’s stamp was displayed in Wanstead’s post office I watched people start animated conversations with words of recognition, memories and even amusement, particularly when they moved closer to view the stamps, which captured such variety in the 60 years of her reign.

 

I hope my kaleidoscopic patterns and manufactured insects evoke a similar response in this exhibition. This work certainly presents a different perspective when seen from a distance or close up. Perhaps if not now, but in 20 years’ time, the images will surprise people about how much has remained the same or changed in Valentines Park?

In any case I am looking forward to the exhibition if for nothing else it helps to explain why the tall man with his phone seemed intent in exploring the park from a whole range of sometimes very strange angles.

You can visit Andrew’s exhibition, ‘365 – A Year in the Life of Valentines Park’ at Valentines Mansion every Sunday and Monday between the 6^th and 28^th April, 12pm-5pn, with free entry.

If you are a local artist looking to exhibit your work, please get in touch.