I Hear it Every Time He speaks; I see it in His Shoes and I Feel it in His T-shirts
Amelia Klein’s sculptural practice is a cathartic exploration of ambiguous loss: her dad suffered a major stroke on their grey, tea stained, family sofa when she was only ten years old. Klein describes it as if ‘her living room changed colour overnight.’
Each item of clothing is both present and absent, evoking the quiet yet constant hum of loss. The clothes suggest human frailty, both through the timid, inward turn of the converse branded shoes and the ghostly cotton T-shirt that speaks of better times.
The arresting, holographic material causes the audience to look closer as in different positions, her father’s clothes come into focus. The t-shirt faintly strokes the screen every so often and it is this painfully futile behaviour that speaks so clearly of the human condition.
Klein capitalises on this slow movement to show the unceasing nature of ambiguous loss and her desperation for societal recognition and memorial.
