close-icon

The Shadow Factory - Longbridge Light Festival

Five works created for Longbridge Light Festival 2016. 

I was commissioned by WERK to make some large format works that would be displayed in spaces normally reserved for advertising.

The festival site in Longbridge, Birmingham, UK, was once home to the Austin Rover manufacturing plant. This year's festival was called The Shadow Factory, referencing when, during WWII, the factory was home to an underground 'Shadow Factory' for wartime production. The output of the plant changed drastically to support the war effort and its workforce radically changed to be 70% female. Following conversations with ex workers, local historians and archivists I was invited to access the photographic archives that illustrated this period; some of these images, now housed at the National Motor Museum provided the source material for my collage commission. 

Working digitally I created five large format works. The largest outdoor work, sited opposite the striking new Bournville College, includes a reference the distinct shape of the building that now dominates the local skyline, linking what once was to what now is... Colour choices in all the works reference the military aspect of this period of production.