From the perspective of an artist, my contribution will move between two domestic sites: Dimbola Lodge, the Isle of Wight home of Julia Margaret Cameron where many of her greatest works were made, and the hallway of Mary Hillier’s grand-daughter, a ten-minute walk down the road from Dimbola. Hillier, a domestic servant was a favourite model for Cameron.

I will reflect on the meaning of ‘uncanny encounters’ relating to specific photographic portraits of a domestic servant called ‘Mary’ and consider what do they reveal about the bond between employer and servant, artist and sitter in terms femininity, desire, class and cross generational history.

For more information about 'Tracing Echoes' 2001, and subsequent touring shows and artist's talks from 2001-2016, see http://radar.gsa.ac.uk/220/

• https://www.nickybird.com/projects/traci...