Biography

Sally Waterman, born Newport, Isle of Wight, UK, 1974. Lives in London. Gained her joint BA (Hons) English with Design Arts at University of Plymouth in 1995 and an MA Image & Communication (Photography) at Goldsmiths College, University of London in 1996. Since October 2004, Waterman has been working on a visual interpretation of T.S Eliot's poem The Waste Land for a PhD by practice at University of Plymouth. She is a part time lecturer in Film Arts at Plymouth College of Art and Design.

Waterman's photographic and video installations have been exhibited widely, in both London and the UK. Journey Home, a limited edition artist book, commissioned by Trace, Weymouth is included in the V&A National Art Library, as well as other private collections. Shifting Horizons (2000-2001); a touring exhibition and publication, curated by Liz Wells and Iris, (International Centre for Women in Photography) featured The Waves project, based on Virginia Woolf's novel. The Forest Fears: Vol.II Babe in the Wood series was included in a Forest , an exhibition at Wolverhampton Gallery (2004), alongside work by Anya Gallacio and Mariele Neudecker, which toured the UK during 2005. Waterman's photographs have also been published by clients such as Virago, Random House, Harper Collins and Faber & Faber for a variety of book covers, as well as for promotional campaigns, such as Marks and Spencer's MSL French lingerie stores.

Artist Statement

Waterman's practice centres on the personal interpretation of literary texts into visual narratives, which is presented through digital video installations, photographic sequences, animated ‘still-movies’, slide projections, or artist book-works. Informed by the process of film adaptation, she constructs scenarios that interpret an image, scene or theme from a literary text, adopting either a performative or documentary approach.

Past work has been derived from literature ranging from Romantic poetry to late nineteenth century authors such as Henry James and Charlotte Bronte through to modernist figures like Virginia Woolf and T.S Eliot and contemporary writers like Jeanette Winterson and Angela Carter. The choice of literature parallels autobiographical experiences and aims to visualise past trauma through the creation of elusive self-portraits. Recent work considers the attachments we make to certain locations, by ‘acting out’ the routine journeys we make that are built up over time and embedded in our personal histories.