School of Material Researcher Explores Footwear and Memory in Solo Exhibition

Palimpsest, running from 15 November until 25 January, traces the interactions between shoe and body, drawing out the ways in which the shoe has become a resonant and poignant object, a record of memory. Sampson explores how, and why, images of worn shoes – from an abandoned child's shoe on a pavement to a pile of shoes at a holocaust memorial or a wedding shoe worn just once – evoke memory and loss.

Drawing on Sampson’s research into the relationship between footwear, memory and the body at the Royal College of Art's School of Material, Palimpsest will feature specially created film and installations. The first screening of her new film, Dance, is the culmination of a six-month project with contemporary dancer Nicole Gaurino and cinematographer Sarah Cunningham, and will address themes of fairy tales and desire, examining the captivating and beguiling yet potentially dangerous qualities of shoes. 

'My research explores footwear as a record of our lives. In looking at that I became increasingly interested in how shoes retain traces of the movements performed in them. I was yet to create a piece of work that specifically explored a shoe as a record of a series of controlled and choreographed movements. Collaborating with dancer Nicole Gaurino, I developed a type of dance that explored the everyday movements people make, which wear down their shoes. Nicole then performed this in shoes that imprinted and collapsed as she danced,' explained Sampson. 

She added: 'The works in this exhibition comprise shoes that have been worn over hours, weeks or months. They have been designed to imprint or wear more readily when worn, and through that process of imprint, increase the wearer's attachment to them.' 

Ellen Sampson is an artist and footwear designer based in London. After graduating with a degree in anthropology, she trained as a shoemaker, running her own company and working with high fashion brands.  She is currently undertaking a PhD at the Royal College of Art, exploring the relationship between footwear, memory and the body. Click here to learn more about Sampson's research.

Palimpsest: The Shoe as Record runs at the Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, 15 November 2014 – 25 January 2015. Click here for details.