Artists Louise Atkinson and Christian Edwardes explore the souvenir: that beloved pocket money treasure, that embodiment of kitch, that memento of a unique encounter that can never be revisited in its ‘original’ sense.
Louise Atkinson’s collection of forty-eight iconic sculptural "souvenirs" represents cities in England. Vibrant and colourful creations inspired by heraldic imagery, they incorporate cultural landmarks, mythology, and historical / contemporary figures from each respective region.
Christian Edwardes’ work engages with various aspects of heritage and topography, considering souvenirs as more than nostalgic remains of extraordinary places and occurrences. For a recent show in Australia, he produced works that explored souvenirs as tokens of exchange:
“The works I produced were, in part, an attempt to find a connection to a landscape that I only knew through the gifts and tourist ephemera that would return with my grandmother on visits to see her daughter—my aunt.”
