personal statement

Principally an installation artist, living close to the sea, beachcombing is a constant in my life. The urge to collect, categorise, order and display my found objects satisfies a need to come to terms with past loss and to find a fulfilling way forward.

My present studio practice, however, concentrates rather more on film making and photography. Last year I made a short film of the sea, overlaid with my siblings' childhood memories of our grandmother's beach hut, and I have recently studied various aspects of low tech photography, using a pinhole camera, Polaroid, cyanotype and liquid light.

My final BA project involved an installation using slide projection with additional sound, bringing to life my great grandmother's diary of 1863, when she travelled to Europe with her reporter father, at a time when the Polish Uprising was taking place and the Eiffel Tower had not yet been built.

The diary highlights many parallels with historical events unfolding around us at this moment and used relevant images and sound in the hope of capturing the viewers' imagination - to inform as well as entertain.

"...Penny Hobson's wonderfully atmospheric installation based on her great grandmother's travel diary from a trip to the continent in 1863 combines audio extracts with a slideshow of telegrams, etchings, flyers and portraits - it is almost impossible to tear yourself away from." (Bexhill Observer, June 2011)