Philippa Jones – The Expanded Place
“In 2001 I inherited a trunk from my Great Aunt ‘Tante Thea’. Born in Holland, surviving her teenage years during WWII, Thea studied Science in England. Her speciality was the burgeoning field of Quantum Mechanics. Restricted by sexism and finances, Thea abandoned her academic study and became a wife and mother. Her lab partner Dr. Stuart Greenhalgh remained in close contact with Thea, writing to her regularly. These letters were part of my inheritance. I found them folded in a wooden box in the bottom of the trunk along with his field notebook from an expedition to an area he referred to only as ‘The Expanded Place’. Photography did not work in this area so Dr. Stuart Greenhalgh created detailed drawn observations.”
Fascinated by Greenhalgh’s unpublished discoveries, Philippa Jones further researched ‘The Expanded Place’ through MIRIAD, leading expeditions to MIRIAD Island in 2012/13. In this exhibition the observations of Dr. Greenhalgh’s are finally revealed in works inspired by his specimen collections and journal.
Jones has created an epic painting, its dimensions so large it breaks away from a frame. This is no window into a place or a detail hinting at a vaster, unseen landscape. This is an immersive work, a whole encompassing world. You stand at its edge, ready to venture in.