Rosie Harris

Rosie Harris is an artist whose practice forms an enquiry into the workings of the mind, specifically the phenomena of the inner voice, and the fragility of memory. Harris works with a large variety of mediums including, text, printmaking, video, installation and stitch in order to depict thought processes. Harris questions how abstract thought can become form;  the mediums she uses have a significance to the concept of the work.

Harris developed a method of stitching in order to aestheticize thoughts, she sews her internal narratives onto dissolvable fabric; the process of dissolving away the fabric emulates the process of a memory becoming fragmented and distorted over time. The stitch that remains represents the thoughts, which are contained within the thread, yet unintelligible to another person.

 

This process was inspired by Harris’s research into the theories of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and psychologist Charles Fernyhough on the nature of the inner voice; which was a theme of her Dissertation- The Inner Voice: Consciousness, Perception and the Immersive Installation. Throughout the paper Harris explored the phenomena of the inner voice; the ways in which the mind can be depicted using immersive installations; and the role that such artworks could play in encouraging more ambiguous thinking within the field of science. Since writing her dissertation Harris’ practice has become centred on the fragility of memory, her current work is based on Daniel Kanheman’s theory of ‘the two selves’.

 

This work aims to questions Kanheman’s notion that “The Instagram generation now experiences the present as an anticipated memory”, by exploring the modern desire to anticipate memories, and how the constant documentation of experience causes change to the way that we remember. Harris’s practice has been influenced by her interest in the mind since studying her foundation diploma in 2013, when she used found vintage photographs a metaphor for the notion of ‘lost memories’, considering the photograph as a physical remnant of a memory, containing a hidden narrative within. Harris would stitch or paint directly onto the original photograph, the process of manipulation entwined with the conceptual basis of the work.

 

Throughout studying her degree in Fine Art her interest in the significance of medium has continued to develop, becoming more embedded into the concept behind the work. She continued to work with found photographs into the second year of her degree, using heavy gel transfers to emulate the notion of memories becoming translucent with time. Portraiture and representation of identity is another recurring theme within Harris’ practice, she has explored the theme in relation to the theme of the mind in various ways, beginning with painting and drawing, then working with stitch to create portraits. During her final year at Kingston School of Art Harris’ practice has become increasingly influenced by fields outside of art, as she gains knowledge in psychology and philosophy; her method of materializing cognitive identities has become abstracted, moving away from the figure and developing her use of stitch as an aestheticization of abstract thought.