Self-Directed AiR: Cynthia Hammond

The Edge of Her Garden

Cynthia Imogen Hammond

The project I undertook while in residence at the Caetani CulturalCentre in April 2017 was titled, "The edge of her garden." I produceda series of ten, acrylic-on-canvas paintings that respond to the1.5-acre Caetani site and its social history.     I was compelled by Sveva Caetani’s life story, which revolves around the 6000 square-foot house, six adjacent outbuildings, and vast garden. This space was for many years a place where Sveva Caetani had the misfortune to be imprisoned. But – later – it was also the space where she chose to develop her practice and identity as an artist. I was inspired to learn that, at 57 years old, Caetani moved back to her Pleasant Valley road house, and embarked upon her major opus for the next 15 years. My series of paintings addressed the edges of Sveva Caetani’s garden in two senses then, as limit and constraint, but also as threshold and horizon of possibility. For more information please visit: https://cynthiahammond.org.