Margje Bijl was given a photograph of Jane Morris with ‘Previous Life’ written on it. At first glance she thought that it was an altered photograph of herself. After discovering Jane Morris’s name and life story, Margje initiated the project ‘Reflections on Jane Morris’. Margje first focused on the physical appearrances and Jane Morris’s hair became a topic in itself.
Over the years Margje gradually let go of the concept of the other and the waves of Janey’s hair changed into the waves of Margje’s youth, which she spent on a live-aboard barge in Friesland.
Besides drawing, photography plays a major role in Margje’s work. Referring to Jane Morris’s life story Margje transformed Jane’s world into her own, adopting contemporary clothing and poses while visiting several of Rossetti, Jane and William Morris’s former homes, taking staged photos on location with the photographer Hein van Liempd.
Margje’s research into photography involves combining 19th Century techniques with contemporary techniques. She learned how to make emulsion from plants and worked with the wet plate photographer Gerjo te Linde to recreate a photograph of Jane Morris, made with the same technique.
