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MAIL ART

Here we can see the development of a piece of mail art as layers have been added over time. The usual journey of a piece of mail art is that the initial artwork is sent in the post to another artist, they add something to the work, and send it on to another artist, and so on. Only two people in this chain of modifications will see the piece in any given state, and by the time the piece stops being circulated, many hands will have had an input. 

This particular mail art project was initiated by Bruton Correspondence School, and more information about this project can be found HERE.

Bruton Correspondence School began the piece, it travelled to Ian Parker who added the neon pink strip, and to Amanda Loomes, who added the rubbing (seen along the top of this photograph).

Collage including beige-gold area, bright pink strip, a section of an old floral print.

The piece was posted to Marenka Gabeler, who added the hand written text.

Collage including beige-gold area, bright pink strip, a section of an old floral print, along with child-like handwriting "down, little, what, by".

It then travelled to Michelle Mckeown who brought to Marenka Gabeler's handwritten text ideas of the Eleusinian Mysteries and the myth of Persephone/ Prosperina and Demeter/Ceres. She referred to 'The Pomegranate' by Evan Boland, 1994; 'The only legend I have ever loved is the story of a daughter lost in hell. And found and rescued there.'

Collage including beige-gold area, bright pink strip, a section of an old floral print, child-like handwriting reading "down, little, what, by", along with prints from pomegranate seeds.
Collage with pomegranate seed prints and bead like drawings.

Continuing with the theme of Greek mythology, Daisy Richardson then added a line drawing of the Global Seed Vault at Svalbard as a Ceres for the modern era, safeguarding the world's seeds against an uncertain future. The line drawing was made in reflection of Amanda Loome's rubbing. The cut out text was stuck to the building in the shape of a name necklace, as though the building is wearing the necklace like a woman.

Collage including beige-gold area, bright pink strip, a section of an old floral print, child-like handwriting reading "down, little, what, by", prints from pomegranate seeds, along with a geometric fine-lined black shape at the letters CERES.

Its most recent modification was made by Louisa Chambers who created an extra dimension by making the piece stand up. She responded to the pomegranate seeds by adding a drawing of beans based on a Peruvian Nazca culture textile piece (100 - 700 AD). Its mantle is embroidered with beans and would have been worn in ceremonies to encourage an abundance of food for the people.

A 3D standing collage including beige-gold area, bright pink strip, a section of an old floral print, child-like handwriting reading "down, little, what, by", prints from pomegranate seeds, a geometric fine-lined black shape at the letters CERES, along with a ground area with plack squares and circular bead-like paintings.
A 3D standing collage with geometric green, blue and yellow shapes, pomegranate seed prints and bead like shapes.
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