3rd Floor Show, Royal College of Art November 2022
'Transmutation' 20" x 24" Silver Gelatin Print on fibre based paper, glass plate slide and print developed in compost developer.
‘Transmutation’ was selected for this cross disciplinary MA group show at the Royal College of Art and is a piece made in response to the Chelsea Physic Garden, whilst Eileen was taking part in a one-year residency. This garden is a small four-acre garden on the banks of the Thames in Chelsea, London. This place was originally created by apothecaries 300 yrs ago to grow medicinal plants and was a place of learning and philanthropy. This image is from an area in the garden that is used for propagation, composting and educational workshops. It is one of the essential behind the scene areas. The camera used is a borrowed Weston field camera that is approx 150 years old and uses glass plates that Eileen coats by hand using recycled glass and subsequently developed in homemade plant developers The particular print used weeds from the compositing area of the garden.
Using low-tech, obsolete and alternative ways of printmaking along with creating alternatives to commercial products, which are deliberately slow and very time-consuming are Eileen’s way of creating uncalibrated and unknown results, a collaboration with both time and nature. This opens up a conversation using the site of the print to talk about ideas that relate to different value systems, in particular our relationship to nature, circular economies, reciprocity and value. These processes have become a way of thinking and making with a landscape.