About the work

My “Jorvik” piece is a collection of 6 images that are inspired by the Vikings that once inhabited the City of York. My work is a response to Cathy Corbishley Michel’s “Three Ships from Hull: Captain Cook 250” (2018) as I loved the monochrome theme of the piece as well as the historical background. These aspects are things I wanted to include in my response, which is why I chose to research further into the rich history of York. The work is a collage of drawings that are all items from the JORVIK Viking Centre, each drawn on a different material. Some of the drawings are on paper and some are on a fabric. I made the decision to switch up the backgrounds of the drawings to add more interest in the work and to create a different effect with each colour. The colours I have chosen for the work were inspired by some of the dyed fabrics seen in the JORVIK Viking Centre and I felt they were a beautiful colour story when put together.

About the journey

When I started to brainstorm ideas for my “Jorvik” piece, I knew I wanted to create a monochromatic piece and I knew I wanted it to inform the viewer about something historical as these aspects are what I really liked about Cathy Corbishley Michel’s work. I have always been interested in the history of York and how vastly different the it was roughly 1000 years ago. To educate myself further, I chose to visit JORVIK Viking Centre to learn more about the Vikings, but more specifically Vikings in York. The artifacts I saw in the Centre are the objects seen in my work. I wanted to include as many different objects as possible in the work to really capture how these people lived by displaying the tools they used and the art they were interested in. I hope you enjoy my work and I hope this work sparks some interest in what York was really like during the Viking-Era.