Gone Mining

Artist, Tracey Thorne, is exploring a different perspective on the ‘familiar’ theme of mining, through a set of objects left by her father, a miner who died of lung cancer in 2011. During the months leading up to his death, he had carefully curated a picture of his life and career in the form of a family photo album and a folder that contains ephemeral mining material.

Gone Mining aims to create a new body of photographic work that seeks to go beyond popular Cornish mining stories to use the familiar to explore the complexity of personal, social, environmental and political issues that are connected to mining. The family album is a largely unexplored personal, social and historical phenomenon which is rapidly disappearing in this digital age. Its exploration here also provides scope to  investigate the gap between memory and reality.

The work will take us on a mining journey that spans three continents connecting stories with communities overseas and providing an opportunity to reflect on the impact of mining globally. It connects to mining for diamonds, gold, nickel and tin across the world over four decades leading us up to the present day.

Gone Mining Exhibition:

Coming in August 2021 at King Edward Mine Museum, Cornwall (subject to COVID_19 restrictions)

Free entry with a number of free art activities to join in with

For more information or to sign up for sign up for updates visit https://www.traceythorne.org/gone-mining-1 or follow on Instagram @traceyathorne using #gonemining