Abigail Payne

I am a printer, photographer and painter following ideas of the passage of time, nature's process of reclaiming and climate change. My recent practice has led me to ruined buildings, specifically churches as these are the most documented. I start off with taking photos, before editing and turning them into screen prints. My recent prints are from a 23 ruined church long road trip taking several days, stopping at sites like St Mary's (Saxlingham), St George (Hindolveston) and St Peter (North Burlingham). I also developed cyanotypes and photograms as alternative ways to produce prints, especially as a more natural process. I have also been experimenting with textiles as a method of printing, using the outcomes of my different printing outcomes to see what works best with different materials. The cyanotypes printed onto silk organza create a faded, ephemeral image, reminding you that these places, whilst preserved as long as possible, won't last forever. One day these structures too shall fall. My fabric prints are part of my series called 'Ghostly' and my screen prints 'Slighting'. 'Slighting' is the practice of deliberately damaging a high status building to lower its value. When exploring these church ruins I found many had their roofs removed before going out of service, simply leaving the walls. In juxtaposition to 'Ghostly', these offer a solid detailed image of the ruins.