'Steph' (2012)

This is continuation of the work i was doing when making 'Bird Song', a piece about three women's experiences of domestic and sexual violence.
I'm interesting in working with individuals true stories, using documentary to influence my work. I start by having face to face conversations with women and recording their stories. I have used the originals in 'Bird Song', but for this piece i decided to re-tell the story, by listening to the recoding via headphones and recording myself speaking the exact words. I like the idea of re-telling women's stories as a way of passing them on, of giving them a wider telling. what i also like is the questions of authenticity within the re-telling. These are all things i wish to explore further.
'Steph's' story was a particularly harrowing one that i had the honour to record back in 2009 and used briefly within a piece of work but as with much of my work, i didn't feel i had done it enough justice, so shelved it to come back to. This time around i have gone further with the story, not only re-telling but adding layers of filming, projection and music. It has been more of an experiment, my work is normally very stripped down and bare, but i wanted to play and experiment with more. I feel though that the piece is too much, and there is an element of the sentimental (which i think the music helps creates) which i don't want. I didn't want people to pity Steph as i felt she didn't want this. I want them to hear her, understand her and realise the truth of life. The ending of the story is very important as it brings the strength back to Steph's story.
So i may well go back and stick with my well tested style, i shall more than likely re work the piece at a later date.