Sophie
Standford
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A Rural Idyll
In the Forest Garden
Inner Landscapes
Absent Presence
Trace
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@hortus_silvam

Absent Presence Selected Works

One Hand Washes the Other



colour HD video 2’0” with stereo sound, 2020
Location: Forest Garden, Suffolk
The title makes reference to our mutual cooperation and assistance during the Coronavirus pandemic of 2019-2020. 

The artist performs the hand washing code that became ubiquitous during the pandemic. Ash is recommended by the World Health Organisation as a soap substitute where there is no access to soap. Ash is also a symbol of mortality.

Here the artist's hand washing routine becomes a desperate and futile act against the wind that threatens and frustrates her washing medium of ashes.

© Sophie Standford, 2025
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