Sally Waterman

Sally Waterman’s interdisciplinary arts practice and research is concerned with the interpretation of literature into an elusive form of self-portraiture. She creates poetic still and moving image works that explore memory, place and familial relationships, drawing upon writers such as Henry James, Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf. T.S Eliot’s 1922 poem, ‘The Waste Land’ was used as a framework to examine her self-representational strategies and adaptation methods for her practice-based PhD, which culminated in a series of photographic and video installations (2005-2010). Waterman re-invents the source material through a fragmentary re-scripting exercise, seeking autobiographical associations with certain images, themes, characters or concepts. Indeed, the chosen literary text functions as a mechanism for self-representation, enabling the recollection and re-imagining of memory. By staging the self in this way, difficult, yet universal experiences of illness, conflict, loss and separation are illuminated through a cathartic transition from literature into visual art.

Born Isle of Wight, 1974. Lives in London
Education
2004-2010
PhD Media & Photography: Visualising 'The Waste Land': Discovering a Praxis of Adaptation, University of Plymouth
2006-2007
Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (LTHE), University of Plymouth
1995-1996
MA Image & Communication, Goldsmiths College, University of London
1992-1995
BA (Hons) English with Design Arts, University of Plymouth
Exhibitions
Solo
2017
So Cheerio For Now, Stephen Lawrence Gallery, University of Greenwich, London (Joint show with Jacqueline Butler)
2015
Translucence, the [...] space, Mission Gallery, Swansea
2012
Waste Land, Ruskin Gallery, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge
2010
Waste Land, Scott Building, University of Plymouth 
2008
Waste Land: Game, Viewpoint Gallery, Plymouth College of Art 
2007
Still-Moving, Viewfinder Photography Gallery, London 
2005
Making Our Mark, Scott Gallery, University of Plymouth
2005
Making Our Mark, West Gallery, Quay Arts, Newport, Isle of Wight
2002
Hidden Within, Five Princelet Street Gallery, London
2001
Forest Fears, The Spitz Gallery, London
2000
The Other Side of a Mirror, Kingsgate Gallery, London
1996
The Waves, Dimbola Lodge, Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight (former home of Julia Margaret Cameron)
Group/Film Screenings
2018
A Journey with The Waste Land, Turner Contemporary, Margate
2018
A Journey with The Waste Land, Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry
2017
A Walk with The Waste Land, Dreamland, Margate, Part of 'Margate Bookie‘ festival led by Elspeth Penfold: Screening of 'Fortune-telling/Re-telling'
2017
Let's Talk About Vivienne, Old Kent Market, Margate, Part of POW, Thanet and Turner Contemporary ‘Walking The Waste Land’ Research Group walk: Screening of 'In the Cage'
2017
Filming the Personal, CCA, Glasgow: Screening of 'So Cheerio for Now'
2016
Filming the Personal, Close-Up cinema, Shoreditch, London: Screening of 'The Deep Sea Swell'
2016
Berlin Experimental Film Festival, Moviemento Kino, Berlin: Screening of 'Against'
2016
Crossing the Screen International Film Festival, The Birley Centre, Eastbourne: Screening of 'So Cheerio for Now'
2016
Embodied Methodologies, 4th Annual practice-based research conference, Royal Holloway, University of London: Screening of 'Against'
2016
I Will Tell You My life: Making Memory, ViSiONA festival, Auditorium of the Council of Huesca, Spain: Screening of 'Against' and ‘Wisdom’
2016
Grammar of Wavelength, Western Isles Museum, Stornoway, Lewis, Scotland (Voyage Boxed shown)
2016
Voyage Boxed, Galerie UQO, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
2016
Bodies of Water, Force 8, Methodist Chapel, Bridport, Dorset: Screening of 'February'
2016
Usurp Zone5 Film Festival, Experimental Art Gallery, Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India: Screening of 'Against'
2015
Usurp Zone5 Film Festival, Usurp Gallery, Harrow, London: Screening of 'Against'
2015
Voyage Boxed, Herhúsið, Siglufjörður, Iceland
2015
Bodies of Water, Cornwall Film Festival, Murdoch House, Redruth: Screening of 'February'
2015
Bodies of Water, Plymouth University: Screening of 'February' 
2014
Bodies of Water, Royal West of England Academy (RWA), Bristol: Screening of 'February'
2014
Sweet Thames Run Softly, The Duke's Head, Putney and The Mayflower, Rotherhithe, London: Screening of 'Against', 'Urban Shadow Walks' and 'Rural Shadow Walks'
2014
Public and Personal Archives: Creative Negotiations, Creativity Zone, University of Sussex, Brighton 
2014
Image-Movement-Story conference, Roehampton University, London: Screening of 'In the Cage'
2014
Voyage Boxed, Tankerness House Museum Kirkwall - Orkney, Scotland
2014
Voyage Boxed, The Library, Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford
2014
Family Ties: Re-Framing Memory, Peltz Gallery, Birkbeck, University of London
2014
Micromegas: Powers of 10, Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney, Scotland (Voyage Boxed shown)
2014
The Innocents: GHost at Camberwell Free Film Festival, St. Giles Church, London: Screening of 'Turn of the Screw'
2014
Turn the Page, Fusion Gallery, The Forum, Norwich: Voyage Boxed and screening of 'February'
2014
Out of the Box, FAB, Fringe Arts, Bath
2014
Art in a Box, One Church Street Gallery, Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire
2013
Voyage: Sea Journeys, Island Hopping and Trans-Oceanic Concepts, Künstlerhaus, Dortmund, Germany
2013
Liminal, Camberwell Space, University of the Arts, London 
2013
8 Studios From Here, Deptford X, London
2012
Standpoint: Diamonds in the Rough, West Gallery, Quay Arts, Newport, Isle of Wight
2012
Art in Romney Marsh, St Peter & St Paul church, Newchurch, Kent
2012
GHost IV: Presence and Absence: Haunted Landscapes, St John on Bethnal Green, London: Screening of 'February'
2012
The Uncanny, Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk, Lancashire
2012
Liquidity, Jill Craigie Cinema, University of Plymouth: Screening of 'February' as part of the 'Water:Image' conference
2012
Off the Shelf: the Self and Subjectivity in the Artist’s Book, Stockwell Studios
, London
2011
Crop, Avenue Gallery, School of the Arts, University of Northampton 
2011
Last Friday Shorts, TAP (Temporary Arts Project), Southend-on-Sea, UK: Screening of 'The Deep Sea Swell' and 'The Awful Daring of a Moment’s Surrender' (Curated by Michaela Freeman)
2011
Who is the Third Who Walks Always Beside You?, Micro Gallery, The Firestation, Windsor
2011
Photo Book Works, 23 Sandy Gallery, Portland, Oregon, USA
2010
Photo Book Works, Abecedarian Gallery, Denver, Colorado, USA
2010
Nightmare conference, Institute of English Studies, University of London: Screening of 'Turn of the Screw' and participation in panel discussion with filmmaker Sarah Miles
2010
Place, Identity and Memory, Reading Lasses Bookshop, Wigtown book Festival, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland
2009
Place, Identity and Memory, Stranraer Museum, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland
2009
Place, Identity and Memory, Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland 
2009
Framing Time and Place: Repeats and Returns in Photography, Scott Gallery, University of Plymouth 
2008
Immersion, LOCATE Research group, Scott Building, University of Plymouth (In association with the LAND/WATER Research Centre annual symposium ‘Landscape and Beauty’)
2008
What Happens Next?, Pitzhanger Manor House and Gallery, London
2008
Moving Out, LOCATE Research group, Roland Levinsky Building, University of Plymouth
2008
Inferno, The Shipwright’s Palace, Deptford, London: Premiere screening 
2008
The Art of Research: Research Narratives, Banqueting Hall, Chelsea College of Art & Design (In association with the 'Art of Research: Research Narratives' symposium)
2007
Escapes, Viewpoint Gallery, Plymouth College of Art 
2007
Journey, Swansea Metropolitan University, Wales
2007
Regard, Viewpoint Gallery, Plymouth College of Art 
2006
Renderyard Film Festival, Escape Art Gallery, London:  Screening of 'Passing Through'
2006
4th International Artist Book Exhibition, King St. Stephen Museum, Székesfehérvar, Hungary
2006
Uncurated, Faircharm Studios, Made in Deptford Festival, London
2006
Put Away Those Childish Things, Viewpoint Gallery, Plymouth College of Art 
2005
Imprint, Frame Zero, London, Photomonth (Joint show with Tessa Bunney)
2005
Made in Deptford Festival, Café Crème, London. Screening of 'Higher Ground/Underground'  
2005
Journey, The Clifford Fishwick Gallery, University of Plymouth, (Exeter) 
2005
Forest, Nottingham Castle Museum and Arts Gallery 
2005
Forest, Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown, Wales 
2005
Forest, York Art Gallery 
2004
Forest, Wolverhampton Art Gallery
2004
Trace Editions, Hirschl Contemporary Art, London
2004
Haunt, Sherborne House, Dorset
2003
Cross Currents, West Gallery, Quay Arts, Isle of Wight 
2003
Earthbound, Arches, Resolution way, Deptford X, London
2001
Shifting Horizons, Derby Museum and Art Gallery 
2001
Shifting Horizons, School of Art, Burslem, Stoke on Trent 
2000
Shifting Horizons, Midland Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham 
1999
To the Lighthouse, West Gallery, Quay Arts, Isle of Wight 
1998
Garden Gallery, Rope Store Gallery, Quay Arts, Isle of Wight 
1997
Similar Differences, Ostholstein Museum, Eutin, Germany
1996
Similar Differences, Coastal Arts League, Half Moon Bay, California, USA 
Commissions
2017-2018
Talking Transformations

Create artist video based on English translation of a Romanian version of a Polish poem, Poetry Library, Royal Festival Hall, London and the Ledbury Poetry Festival, Malvern Hills, organisd by Dr. Ricarda Vidal and Dr. Manuela Perteghella

2012-2013
Rethink Your Mind, UK

Judge for mental health arts competition, organised by AdvanceUK, SISO and HowRU?

2006-2007
Art & Adventure, London

Created experimental video for multimedia adaptation of Dante’s Inferno. Producer Roger Elsgood, Director William Richards

2003
Trace Gallery, Weymouth

Journey Home artist bookwork (35 in edition)

Since 1997
Millennium Images Ltd

Photographs used for book covers and editorial projects. Clients include: Faber & Faber, Harper Collins, New Scientist, Oxford University Press, Random House, Routledge, Vintage and Virago

1997
The Garden Gallery Project, ‘Cassies’, Billingham, Isle of Wight

Photographs made in response to private garden exhibition

1997
Bateau Ivre Theatre Company, London

Director of Photography: Provided visuals for set design and promotion

Curatorial Projects
April 2016, February 2017
'Filming the Personal', Close-Up cinema, London and CCA, Glasgow Co-curator of film programme exploring paternal relationships, featuring work by Duncan Cowles, Jill Daniels, Anthea Kennedy, Theresa Moerman, John Smith, Alia Syed and Sally Waterman.
February 2016
'I’ll Tell You My life: Remembering', ViSiONA festival, Auditorium of the Council of Huesca, Spain Co-curator of film programme featuring work by Suze Adams, Jacqueline Butler, David Jackson, Sarah Pucill and Sally Waterman as part of the Family Ties Network 
July 2014
'Family Ties: Re-Framing Memory', Peltz Gallery, Birkbeck, London: Lead curator of group exhibition featuring member's Suze Adams, Nicky Bird, Jacqueline Butler, Rosy Martin, Lizzie Thynne and Sally Waterman as part of the Family Ties Network
July 2014
‘Family Ties: Re-Framing Memory' Birkbeck cinema, University of London: Curator of film screening programme featuring work by Suze Adams, Rosy Martin and Sally Waterman
November 2012
'Tracing Ancestral Homelands', Richmond American International University, London: Co-organiser of film screening event of 'Communion' (2012) by Suze Adams and 'On the Border' (2012) by Lizzie Thynne, as part of the Family Ties Network 
March 2012
'Family Ties: Recollection and Representation', Senate House, University of London: Organiser of conference and film screening event in association with the Centre for the Study of Cultural Memory, Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies. Keynote speakers included Rosy Martin and Prof. Marsha Meskimmon (Loughborough University). Film screening of '2001 - A Family Odyssey: Ophelia's Version' (2002) accompanied by film director, Sarah Miles in conversation with Dr. Lucy Reynolds
Artist Publications/Catalogues
Books

Arnold-de Simine, Silke and Leal, Joanne (Eds.)(forthcoming, 2018) 'Picturing the Family: Media, Narrative, Memory', London/New York: Bloombury (Contributing chapter)

Helff, Sissy and Michels, Stefanie (Eds.)(forthcoming, 2017) 'Global Photographies: Memory – History – Archives', Bielefeld: Transcript (Contributing chapter)

Wells, Liz, Newton, Kate and Fehily,Catherine (eds) (2000) 'Shifting Horizons: Women's Landscape Photography Now', London: I.B. Tauris. (Profile feature on 'The Waves' project)

Journal Articles

'Family Ties Network', Exposure: The Journal of the Society for Photographic Education, Spring 2017, Vol. 50:1

Exhibition Catalogues

'Art in a Box' (2014) Exhibition catalogue with text by Joanna Bryant, Great Missenden, UK: One Church Street Gallery.

'Voyage: Sea Journeys, Island Hopping and Trans-Oceanic Concepts' (2013) Exhibition catalogue with essays by Nancy Campbell, Imi Maufe and Rona Rangsch, Dortmund, Germany: Kunstlerhaus Dortmund.

'Photo Book Works' (2010) Exhibition catalogue with text by Alicia Bailey, Denver, USA: Abecedarian Gallery.

'Place, Identity and Memory' (2009) Exhibition catalogue with text by Julian Watson, Dumfries & Galloway, UK: Gracefield Arts Centre.

'Fourth International Artist's Book Exhibition' (2006) Exhibition catalogue with text by Katalin Izinger and Buzz Spector, Székesfehérvár, Hungary: King St. Stephen Museum.

'Forest' (2004) Exhibition catalogue with essays by Caroline Smallwood, Yvonne Aburrow and Roger Kelly, Wolverhampton, UK: Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

'Haunt' (2004) Exhibition catalogue with introduction by Maev Kennedy, Sherbourne, UK: Sherborne House.

Artist Bookworks

'Je Veux (I Want)' (2003) Paris: One Star Press. (700 editions, 230 artists)

'Journey Home' (2003) Weymouth: Trace Gallery. (35 editions)

'Voyage Boxed' (2014) Künstlerhaus Dortmund, Germany (50 editions, 18 artists)

Academic Experience
2013-Present
Sessional Lecturer in Contextual Studies and Dissertation Supervisor: Ravensbourne, London
2011-2012
Visiting Fellow: Centre for the Study of Cultural Memory, Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies, University of London
2008-2011
Visiting Artist for MA Photography: University of West London
2007-2008
Associate Lecturer for BA Media Arts: University of Plymouth
2005-2009
Lecturer for BA Film Arts (0.3-0.5): Plymouth College of Art
2002-2012
Visiting Artist and Tutor for MA Image & Communication: Goldsmiths College, University of London
2001-2002
Visiting Artist : Roger Asham Primary School, Walthamstow, London
1996-1998
Education Assistant: National Portrait Gallery, London (Assisted on Summer Photography workshops)
Artist Residencies
November 2012-May 2013
Artists Access to Art Colleges (AA2A): Wimbledon College of Art, London
Artist Talks and Papers Presented
14th July 2017
'PastPresent: Re-Photographic Representations of the Family Home Through Literary Adaptation' Visualising the Home conference, University of Cumbria
9th September 2016
'Interpreting The Waste Land: Literary Fragmentations and the Disembodied Self', (Dis)Connected Forms: Narratives on the Fractured Self conference, University of Hull
27th January 2016
Artist Talk, Plymouth College of Art 3rd Annual Visual Culture symposium, Seven Dials Club, Covent Garden, London 
5th December 2014
Artist Talk, Family Ties Network research seminar, Watershed, Bristol
10th July 2014
'Literary Revisions of the Family Album: Between Remembering and Forgetting’, Picturing the Family: Media, Narrative, Memory conference, Birkbeck, University of London
28th June 2013
Artist Talk, Family Ties Network research seminar, Manchester Metropolitan University
17th May 2013
'Staging Sermon: Performing Literary Narratives', Photography and the Contemporary Imaginary, UAL Research Forum, London College of Communication
13th November 2012
Artist Talk, BA Media Practice, University of Sussex
27th October 2012
In conversation with Professor Liz Wells, 'Waste Land' exhibition, Ruskin Gallery, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge
18th October 2012
Artist Talk, BA English Literature, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge
29th June 2012
'Re-imagining the Family Album Through Literary Adaptation’ (Invited speaker), How History Enters Photography symposium, Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany
18th June 2012
Artist Talk, MA Image & Communication, Goldsmiths College, University of London
11th May 2012
Artist Talk, BA Photography, Plymouth College of Art
10th May 2012
'Poetic Wanderings: Visual Interpretations of Home and Place', (Invited speaker), Home and Place: Nature and Landscape Study Day, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter
4th July 2011
Artist Talk, MA Image & Communication, Goldsmiths College, University of London
9th June 2011
Artist Talk, MA Photography, University of West London
16th February 2011
'Literary Transformations: A Self-Representational Arts Practice’, Centre for the Study of Women and Gender, University of Warwick
22nd June 2010
Artist Talk, MA Photography, Thames Valley University, London
29th April 2009
‘Picturing the Self in Metaphorical Waste-Land-Scapes’, LAND/WATER research seminar, University of Plymouth
8th May 2008
Artist Talk, MA Photography, Thames Valley University, London
16th April 2008
‘Manoeuvrability and A Game of Chess’, Media research seminar, Faculty of Arts, University of Plymouth
5th July 2008
‘Exploring Concepts of Literary Interpretation and Self-representation within Arts Practice’, Face-to-Face: The Photographic (Self) Portrait conference, Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies, University of London
30th April 2008
Artist Talk, ‘The Waste Land: PhD Work-in-Progress’ exhibition, Plymouth College of Art
16th February 2008
Artist Talk, 'What Happens Next?’ exhibition, Pitzhanger Gallery and Manor, London
18th December 2007
Artist Talk, ‘Still-Moving’ exhibition, London Independent Photographers Group, Viewfinder Photography Gallery
14th May 2007
‘Memento Mori: ‘PastPresent’ and ‘Fortune-telling/Re-telling’, Research seminar, Plymouth College of Art
30th April 2007
Artist Talk, MA Image & Communication, Goldsmiths College, University of London
22nd November 2007
Artist Talk, BA Photography, Plymouth College of Art
2nd May 2007
‘Shadow Walks and The Unreal City Experience’, Research seminar, School of English, University of Plymouth
7th March 2007
‘PhD Work in Progress’, Media research seminar, Faculty of Arts, University of Plymouth
9th October 2006
‘A Research Journey’, BA Photomedia, Plymouth College of Art
12th June 2006
Artist Talk, MA Image & Communication, Goldsmiths College, University of London
15th February 2006
‘Interpreting T. S Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land’, Media research seminar, Faculty of Arts, University of Plymouth
9th April 2005
Artist Talk, ‘Making our Mark’ exhibition, Quay Arts, Newport, Isle of Wight
1st December 2004
‘Introduction to PhD research project’, Media research seminar, Faculty of Arts, University of Plymouth
1st March 2004
Artist Talk, MA Image & Communication, Goldsmiths College, University of London
28th April 2003
Artist Talk, MA Image & Communication, Goldsmiths College, University of London
21st February 2003
Artist Talk, ‘Cross Currents’ exhibition, Quay Arts, Newport, Isle of Wight
24th June 2002
Artist Talk, MA Image & Communication Goldsmiths College, University of London
10th March 2002
Artist Talk, ‘Hidden Within' exhibition, Five Princelet Street Gallery, London (Part of the ‘Spit-Lit’ Spitalfields Women’s Literature Festival programme)
Collections

Edinburgh School of Art, UK

John M. Flaxman Library, The School of Art Institute of Chicago, USA

King St. Stephen Museum, Székesfehérvar, Hungary

Künstlerhaus Dortmund, Germany

Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

National Art Library, V&A, London, UK

Penrose Library, University of Denver, USA

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, UK

Tate Library, London, UK

University of Glasgow, UK

University of Northampton, UK

University of Plymouth, UK

Yale Centre for British Art, New York, USA

Various private collections

Awards
2004-2010
PhD research fee remission scholarship, University of Plymouth
Membership
Since 2012
Family Ties Network, Research Group
Since 2008
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Since 1996
Millennium Images Ltd, London
1996-2007
Iris: The International Centre for Women in Photography, Loughborough University