BODIES OF WORK
Travels
Travels
During a residency on Kyushu, the southernmost island of Japan, Ratcliff began her “Japan” series of work. She interpreted the new realities around her by rebuilding photographic images through cropping, collage, repetition, and transfer.
In 2002, Ratcliff traveled to Malta in the Mediterranean, making a pilgrimage to the 5,000 year old goddess temples. The enduring remains of ancient, matriarchal culture inspired Ratcliff to assemble these images based in women’s spirituality. The resulting body of work consists of digitally printed photographs combined with the handwork of image transfer, drawing, and collage.
Himalaya, 1999 :: transfer, xerox, acrylic, colored pencil on paper 22 x 30 in.
Green Waters, 2000 :: mixed media on paper (39 x 27 in.) Most of these photographs were taken during a a 10-day artist’s residency in Shimabara, Japan, where the medieval feudal fortress still stands, replete with its moat.
Prayer Papers, 2000 :: transfer, photo, collage on paper (32 1/2 x 25 1/4 in.) Hundreds of prayers are written on the folded white papers tied to this wire grid in front of a shrine in Shimabara. The paper on which this image was made was a gift from my hosts; once again, the seed of the composition can be found in the photograph, lower left.
Map of Japan, 2000 :: acrylic, collage, photograph, colored pencil on paper (30 x 44 in.) All of the pieces of paper I saved from my trip to Japan went into the making of this map of the five islands. Surrounding the islands is the imprint of a Japanese stamp signifying “Approved.”
Nara Buddha, 2000 :: mixed media on paper (30 x 19 in.)
Temple Altars at Ggantija, 2002 :: pigmented ink jet print, collage and graphite on paper (30 x 42 in.)
Grand Basin and Ggantija, 2002 :: pmiigxmede nmteedd iian ko nje pt apprienrt, collage and graphite on paper 30 x 42 in.
Temple Muse 2002 :: pigmented ink jet print, collage, pencil, acetate on paper (27 x 43 in.)
Fall Equinox, Mnajdra, Malta, 2002 :: pigmented ink jet print, transfer, colored pencil, collage on paper (27 3/8 x 48 in.)
Temple Dancer, Angkor Wat, 2003 :: acrylic, transfer, oil pastel, colored pencil on paper mounted on panel (40 x 30 x 1 5/8 in.)
Temple Dancers, Angkor Wat, 2003 :: acrylic, transfer, colored pencil, collage on paper (38 x 26 1/2 in.)
Circle Dance, 2003 :: acetate and acrylic on paper 26 x 37 1/2 in.
Hong Kong: Triple Harbors, 2003 :: mixed media on paper 20 x 30 in.
Varanasi: The Sweeper, 2003 :: mixed media on panelcrylic, colored pencil, graphite, transfer and collage on paper; 43 3/4 x 60 x 1 3/4 in.
Doing Almost Nothing, 2005 :: mixed media work on paper (22 x 30 in.)
Harald's Vision, 2005 :: mixed media works on paper 22 x 30 in.
Melide, 2005 :: mixed media work on paper 24 x 30 in.
Spanish Cafe :: 2001, Digital Inkjet Print (18 x 27 in.) The photograph in this image was originally taken when I was sixteen years old and visiting Spain for the first time with my family. The view, photographed from our hotel balcony, is of a plaza with café tables in Madrid, seen from above. To make this artwork, I reversed the original photograph (visible in the lower left corner), and then flipped the two lower images upside down to create an abstract pattern. Three of the images were printed onto acetate and collaged into place. In the pigmented inkjet print, traces of the acetate's reflection are still visible. I also drew out some of the architectural features with black ink, which stands out against the warm tones of the papyrus paper in the original.
Statue of Liberty, 2001 :: pigmented inkjet print (18 x 24 in.) :: This mixed media work has as its center a photograph taken by a family member I never knew, but whose slide record of a 1956 trip around the world I inherited. In this case, she didn’t have to go far: the view is of the Statue of Liberty, right in New York Harbor. (Was she just departing from the port?) I have surrounded this central image with seven different depictions of water and wave patterns. Some are hand-colored Xerox transfers, some collaged color Xeroxes, and others watercolor. This image has special meaning for people who have immigrated to the United States.
Danuta in Malta, 2002 :: pigmented inkjet print (24 x 26 in.)
Danuta Looking, 2002 :: pigmented inkjet print (36 x 22 in.)
Two Birds, 2003 :: pigmented inkjet print (22 x 30 in) :: The original work that these archival prints reproduce is a rich and multi-layered composition comprising transferred photographs, acrylic washes, collaged images of flowers and seed pods, and freehand drawing using colored pencil and oil pastel. The photographs, which merge with the overall composition, were taken in the Garden District of New Orleans.
Palais Royal, Paris, 2003 :: pigmented inkjet print (23 x 30 in.) :: Near one end of the Palais Royal gardens in Paris these silver spheres float on a fountain designed by the Belgian artist Pol Bury. I was fascinated by the reflections of the surrounding rectangular colonnades as they were distorted/wrapped around the contours of these mirrored balls. After taking a series of close-up pictures, I united them on oatmeal toned Japanese paper and used colored pencil and graphite to restore a handmade feel to the industrially machined balls. This archival pigmented inkjet print also reproduces one of the photos that inspired this work, as it was collaged to the original.
Hong Kong: Bird Cages, 2003 :: pigmented inkjet print (23 x 30 in.) There is an amazing park in Hong Kong where old men gather and chat while their pet birds, carried from home in cages, hang suspended from poles overhead. Coincidentally, the park serves as Hong Kong’s primary market for birds and bird supplies. In this image, the sun illuminates the bamboo bars of a cascade of suspended cages; a few seconds later, they will fall into shadow again. The original drawing that this pigmented inkjet print reproduces is on Lama Li paper from Nepal. Its rich red tone echoes the burnished wood of the cages and deepens the play of light and shadow in the image.
Hong Kong: Wu Shu, 2003 :: pigmented inkjet print (23 x 30 in.) This archival pigmented inkjet print is based on a collage of impressions of Hong Kong: past and present, poetic and commercial. At the top of the composition, the city’s horizon stretches across in an image pieced together from a 1956 photo passed down through my family, joined together with a panoramic view I made in 2002. Below the harbor, images of the modern city, Chinese characters, and martial artists form a background to the vibrant colors of bouquets of flowers and outrageous wigs sold in the steep shopping streets of the city.
Parting of the Plates, 2009 :: Digital Inkjet Print (24 x 56 in.)