About the book

Artist Rachel Garfield uses video, painting and photography to explore the gap between an individual’s own perception of their identity and the perceptions of others.

All her works layer multiple experiences and viewpoints. The presence of the artist herself as both subject and interviewer is also a recurring feature.

Her video work in particular examines the history of racism and xenophobia in Europe and explores the experience of being part of ethnic-minority communities in Britain, through the narratives that people tell about their lives.

Throughout her work stereotypes are placed alongside the subject of those stereotypes to present us with a complex, multifaceted view of the individuals concerned and their relationship to their communities and histories. The viewer is never offered pointers as to how they 'ought' to respond.