Marjolaine Ryley - Impressions Gallery

Went to the Impressions Gallery in Bradford yesterday and saw an exhibition, "Residence Astral" by Marjolaine Ryley. I really liked it and certainly idenified with her subject matter - domestic details.
From the exhibition flyer: Over the last twelve years Marjolaine Ryley has been photographing her grandmother’s apartment in Brussels, the setting for many family get-togethers. Her images explore the mixed feelings that many of us have towards the family home, such as comfort and claustrophobia..”
Ryley speaks about her work being concerned with the unreliability of memory and with a sense of loss. I certainly concur with the memory bit, not exlusively the unreliability of it but something akin to TS Eliots line - “mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain..”Take the curtain shot above. Really simple, but by giving us those curtains to contemplate, for me, the curtains take on, if it were possible, a sort of “self possession”, they are no longer inanimate – they are holding back the sun, they are stirring in the breeze, they are making patterns on the floor – the “are”. The other side of the photograph arises from knowing the context – a shot from one of Ryley’s relatives homes. Someone chose those curtains, liked the colour, hung them, looks after them, enjoys them.... who is she?
A simple photo that gives the viewer plenty to think about. Indeed, there isn’t one of Ryley’s photographs that doesn’t fascinate me. I find it magnetic and resonant. It has also given me the bud of an idea for a project I might like to pursue in the future.