Big picture: The flotsam and jetsam of life

Jennie Jewitt-Harris, a psychologist and medical doctor, uses drawing, collage, and 3D stereo photography to consider the psychology relating to how our memories and opinions are shaped. During her time as Artist in Residence at Watts Gallery in Compton, Surrey, she is exploring, through her artwork, the theories relating to memory triggers, flashbulb memories, and déjà vu relating to places.

'I use weathered objects and driftwood as a physical metaphor for the passage of time. Each anonymous discarded object also physically shows its own individual long complex history. Collected objects are woven into the collages, as triggers of memories of a time or place, such as music, books, photos, stamps and maps, which I think of as the flotsam and jetsam of life.' The work also considers time relating to mortality and our desire to 'live in the moment', contradicting a competing desire to capture and hold on to memories.

Jennie, a member of the British Psychological Society, is extending this thinking through her Fine Art PhD to investigate what influences the specific reluctance of many people to refuse consent to transplant corneas from eyes of deceased donors. She has worked in the field of organ donation for many years, currently as CEO of the Transplant Links charity, and is intrigued by the special relationship we have with our eyes. 'Our relationship with our eyes seems very different to that with other organs, and researching this through interviews and making art will be fascinating.'

For details of Jennie's exhibition and artwork go to www.jenniejh.co.uk.