Flotsam, Jetsam, Lagan, Derelict. The Things We Have Lost.

I was born on a watery Island; the damp has never left me. I used to believe my ancestors were seals and that is why when I felt in danger I lay in the bath, why I longed to float and why I lived in fear of drowning. I have lost my ability to breath underwater, birth deprived me of amniotic life, of the comfort of the sea. In writing and in art I attempt to return, and for a moment I capture it, but then it is gone.

Over the course of nearly forty years, I have made work that I broadly categorise as ‘Lost at Sea’. These works are divided into groups; Flotsam, Jetsam, Lagan, Derelict. The works describe things that have been lost, but can be found again, markers that we have left so that we can return to them at another time, things that can never be reclaimed. The paper is presented as a performance lecture, including images, pieces of text and film clips. The works have been exhibited internationally and the texts are from published writing, both creating writing and academic texts. This presentation is a long view of what might initially seem like disparate works but are all link by the sea. I would swim over the deepest ocean The deepest ocean, my love to find But the sea is wide and I cannot swim over And neither have I wings to fly If I could find me a handsome boatman To ferry me over my love and I. Traditional Ballad