Traces, 2020-2022 / In collaboration with the cleaners Julie Haygarth, Janette Nelson, Phillipa Whitehead, Linda Buttle, Rinku Shaw, Agnieszka Stankiewicz, Elzbieta Orczykowska, Martin Bennett, Angela Joss, Amanda Dixon, Angela Chesters, Josie Platt, Jake Haygarth, Yvonne Rawcliffe, Christine Southern and Mariola Orawiec, working at Lancaster University.
Specifications
Acrylic on canvas
Various dimensions
Description
Traces is a year-long, research-based project shaped by conversations with cleaners. The resulting work is a collective painting created by 82 cleaners in the University Library, using their own mops. Each mark on the canvas records the specific movements used in mopping techniques designed to maintain posture and reduce strain on the knees and back during long hours of work—sweeping arcs, circular motions, and repeated gestures—transforming routine labour into a visual composition determined by the cleaners themselves. The colour palette references the university’s own colour-coded system for cleaning public areas.
Now permanently installed in the Library, the painting stands as both a visual archive of these encounters and a monument to and by the cleaners.
Traces was supported and commissioned by Lancaster Arts
ReportTo read the full report, click here.