James Lewis



Burdens
Duo exhibition w/ Abbas Zahedi, Conditions, Croydon
15.11.25 - 23.11.25

JL: What’s the third house?

ML: The house I grew up in.

JL: I’m trying to piece it together and trying to imagine the layout by looking at the backgrounds of family photos. 

ML: We had a ground floor flat but it was quite big.

There was a big veranda with a living room and dining room together. 
A kitchen.
Two bathrooms and three bedrooms, I think. 
Two bathrooms, I remember.
One was white and the other was pink. 

JL: That sounds big. 

The veranda, do you remember much else about it? 

ML: The garden was L-shaped. 

JL: And do you remember any of the plants in the garden? 

ML: We grew ladyfingers. Okra. 

We had trees. 
I remember the trees, but I don’t know the type.

JL: Do you remember what the trees looked like?

ML: I think they were Palm Trees.

JL: If you try to remember playing in the garden, what are the plants in the background?

ML: Oh, I do remember playing in the garden. I used to ride a tricycle around the garden. 

But the only thing I can remember is how clean the garden was. It was very well kept. 

Like an image of a garden, rather than the real thing. 


Photos: Holli Xue

Exhibition supported using funding by Arts Council England and The Elephant Trust 



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