Inhalation

As Leverhulme Artist in Residence, Juliet MacDonald has been working with First World War material from the Liddle Collection, held by Special Collections at the University of Leeds. This Collection, founded by the historian Peter Liddle, includes interviews, diaries, letters, official documents, sketchbooks and other items of personal significance relating to both world wars. The Collection has been awarded designated status for its international significance.
The exhibition 'Inhalation' at The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery offers the chance to see a selection of items from this unique Collection presented alongside artworks that MacDonald has made in direct response to the archive during the period of her residency.
MacDonald has used drawing as her primary means to study the Collection, paying close attention to visual material such as group photographs, postcards and printed manuals. The site of the archive has been a focus of her interest, but by way of contrast to the ordered atmosphere of the library she has also explored the site of a former munitions factory, now demolished and overgrown. Pieces of ferrous metal found there are contrasted with the fragile paper documents that survive in the Collection.
The exhibition incorporates drawing, digital images, digital video and installation.
The artist’s residency has been in co-operation with Special Collections, Leeds University Library and the Legacies of War WW1 Centenary project.