This is an etching I completed after my visit to the Fishmonger’s Company Hall, following my research into the history or the livery companies in London. The still life portraiture inside the Hall and documentary footage of Billingsgate in the early hours of the morning were the inspiration for this piece. I have always lived in Tower Hamlets, and so have passed Billingsgate market countless times growing up, its spacious halls always evoking a childlike curiosity in me. I am fascinated with the complex role food plays in society, both as a sociological and deeply personal phenomenon and I completed a history degree last year, specialising in the presentation of food in British film from the late 1980s-90s.
This piece is part of a series of etchings, linocuts and screenprints responding to food’s place in modern society, in particular the role sentimentality plays in our relationship with food and memory. I enjoy the level of detail one can achieve with the etching process, contrasting this with the more expressive wash of shading which acquatint brings. The piece is an ode to the institution of Billingsgate and its unsung heroes.
Billingsgate
20cm diameter etching on A4 cartridge paper
£150 framed, £90 unframed
Instagram: @daisydaydiaries