Wendy Buresh – The Road to Vindolanda

Description

ARTIST STATEMENT

The Road to Vindolanda is a collage that originated from a single photograph taken during a
road trip I took in 2023, exploring the United Kingdom. The original image—an unassuming
stretch of road eventually leading toward the ancient Roman site of Vindolanda—became a firm
touchstone for memory, movement, and the layered nature of travel.
In this work, I construct and assemble the pieces to echo the photograph and the experience of
driving through landscapes shaped by both history and personal narrative. Each fragment holds
a moment: the shifting light across the hills, the soft dirt road just beyond the greenery, the
sense of anticipation as the road curves just out of view. By cutting, tearing, and arranging the
pieces, I explore how memory itself functions—not as a linear path, but as overlapping
impressions that blur time, place, and feeling.
This collage becomes both map and metaphor. It follows the physical journey I went on, while
also revealing the way that travel reshapes our understanding of the world and of ourselves. In
layering the image, I invite viewers to consider the roads that guide them, the histories beneath
their feet, and the small, quiet moments that stay with us long after the journey has ended.