Description
Artwork info
“Cushana, aged 6 (b. 2009). Cushana was the only child living on Pitcairn Island during my stay. She is the youngest of five, but all of her elder siblings had left for New Zealand to finish their schooling.
Cushana is ferried to and from Pulau School by the island police officer, Brenda Christian, or by her mother, Charlene. At no time is she allowed to wander unaccompanied, and she is never left alone with island men.
Her childhood is very different to that of the older Pitcairners, who describe a youth with no rules and absolute freedom. If Cushana’s world is controlled by the blue Pacific that circles the island, her life is dictated by the apparent threat of her neighbours.
Cushana has a ‘safe adult’ list, and is instructed to only associate with those on it. On an island of just 42 people, Cushana’s contact list is limited. When she grows up, she wants to travelto London, see snow, and meet the Queen.” – Rhiannon Adam
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CONTACT | tom@opendoors.gallery
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Big Fence / Pitcairn Island
The Pitcairn Islands are the last British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific. Pitcairn was permanently settled by the infamous Bounty mutineers and their Polynesian captives in 1790, and their descendents, now numbering fewer than 40, still live there today.
The tiny, isolated, volcanic island measures just two by one miles, is 400 nautical miles away from its nearest neighbour, and is the least populated jurisdiction in the world. Due to the infrequent supply ship schedule (the island’s only direct access), Rhiannon Adam was trapped on Pitcairn for three months, spending two of those living at Big Fence… READ MORE
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Artist Bio
Rhiannon Adam is a photographic artist, born in Cork, Ireland, in 1985. She currently lives and works between London and the US.
In 1992, her parents sold everything they owned and bought a live-aboard sailing boat, Jannes. From that point, her childhood became nomadic, moving from place to place, mainly around South America and the Caribbean. She eventually moved to London as a teenager to live her with aunt, enabling her to begin mainstream education. She later studied at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and at the University of Cambridge.
Adam’s work is centred on research-based, long-form, social documentary projects that make use of analogue photographic processes and archive materials, as well as her on-going obsession with Polaroid and the materiality of the photographic image. Her early life experiences have had a lasting influence on her work, with a focus on remote communities, the concept of utopia, and the fine line between fact and fiction… READ MORE
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