Reflections on the Beauty of Life

Reflections on the Beauty of Life is a layered textile artwork that talks of the layered nature of memory and the recurring pasts that form new mythic metanarratives in post memory recall. Derrida expresses this ‘spectral turn’ as interwoven concepts that affect all aspects of our lives from the political, social, and cultural to the technological. The past as spectral ghost reminds us of potential futures in a continual disruption of the present. This ‘hauntology’ for Derrida arises as the past and memories power to linger, arise unbidden and prey on the mind with a fragility such that the image of the past is destined to become distorted, fade and finally disappear (Coverley 2020). The past returns as a revenant that haunts our futures always returning and recurring. The present being realised in the memories and post memories of the past. The work was invited for inclusion in the exhibition 'Dazzling Sights' International Exchange Exhibition held at Busan Cultural Foundation, South Korea. Burton was invited to exhibit as the only UK artist among 17 international visual artists. The exhibition was sponsored by Busan Arts and Crafts Artists Association