‘India Lawton, Master of Photography (University of Westminster 2012), has developed her own style of photo assemblage to eerie and intriguing effect.

In her series ‘The Will’, Lawton creates layered images of rooms with the subject matters removed or distorted, giving a nostalgic feel to the collages. The idea itself is relatively simple, though the realisation thereof is simply breath taking. The majority of photographs are pictures taken in the same places at different times, and lined up accordingly, thus creating a hollowed memory effect of black and white windows, dusty fireplaces, and cut-out silhouettes of once-happy families. Despite this particular series being very personal to Lawton herself, the anonymity of the entire work makes it an accessible and reflective piece for all.

The anonymity of which I speak can be found in several of Lawton’s collections, including her most renowned work ‘Scars’. Again, the artist plays with the idea of being forgotten and erased. She takes a range of black and white images – holiday snaps, for the maximum level of juxtaposition – and ‘mangles’ them with fire and scratching. The result is an almost upsetting scrap book of surreptitiously damaged photographs.

Whilst censored identity is not something entirely new to the art world, either in terms of photography or painting, the way Lawton goes about her works does spark the imagination in a brand new way. She does not stray so far abstract that she competes with artists such as Gerhard Richter, nor does she post modernise to the extent of Baldessari. What she has done is created a genuinely unique style of expression somewhere betwixt the two. Despite the emotional range that Lawton’s work may evoke, there is no shortage of whimsy either. Somehow, Lawton has managed to create a catalogue of photography which is both emphatic and mysterious.

Article by ALICE BRACE for TRIBU Magazine ©’