Part of my focus on constructs of homeliness and the concept of home includes what Home means for people who don't have a physical one, or whose experiences in life mean that they don’t equate home with safety. A large part of this includes what Home means to people who are incarcerated, what role a cell plays in creating a sense of homeliness and the discrepancy between living somewhere and being able to call it home.

Waiting Writings are an amalgamation of truths, woven together to make short fiction stories. The truths are taken from conversations I’ve had with the men in prison, things they’ve shared with me, things they’ve written, things I’ve overheard, and thoughts I’ve had while being there. As prison is an enclosed space - with things and information forbidden to be brought in or taken out - creating fictions from realities becomes a means for the men to have a voice beyond the wall and barbed wire. By writing with paper, rather than on it, the fragility of the story’s content is made visible. It is also one of the only materials we have access to in secure prisons.

Photographic documentation by Eric Tschlernow at No Gallery Berlin, Alicja Kielan at Galerie Op Enheim Wrocław, and Tod Jones for IKON Gallery Birmingham