Royal Iris
The Royal Iris body of work explores issues of displacement, dereliction, loss and nostalgia through the metaphorical qualities of an abandoned Mersey ferry – the Royal Iris - berthed on the Thames since 2002 and gradually disintegrating. I came across her by chance as my picture framer’s studio is next to her mooring, and quickly became fascinated by her story. Previous projects have been connected to my own past, but the Royal Iris took me away from personal history and out into the open waters of collective experience.
The Royal Iris paintings focus on details taken from film stills that home in on the fragile physical state of the boat. They are painted in acrylics on steel, incorporating a patina of rust into the paintings, trying to make the materiality of the painting communicate something about the subject.
Research and the use of archives has been key to the development of my ideas on the Royal Iris project. For example, I found out that Iris once hosted 1960’s Merseybeat bands including the Beatles, carried the Queen on a river trip for her Silver Jubilee, and was the set for an ill-fated 1980's children’s TV show called The Mersey Pirate. Apart from the interest of famous names and popular culture, I started to appreciate her distinctive design. Compared to other Mersey ferries, Iris, launched in 1950, has the style of an ocean liner, and was conceived from the outset as being an entertainment venue as well as a ferry.
Callum Magill's sampling of field recordings and Love Me Do was the perfect soundtrack to The Wrong River with its split screen format reflecting the two rivers of Iris's history, the Mersey and the Thames. |
The Wrong River from Morna Hinton on Vimeo. |