Ellie Hoskins: what we talk about when we don’t know what to talk about

‘what we talk about when we don’t know what to talk about’
Ellie Hoskins

Sometimes there’s literally nothing to say. But you have to find something to say anyways because you crave connection, and connection is built on conversation, and conversation is built on rummaging around in the cesspool of your brain to find something to say.

Unfortunately, I’m not always great at finding the right thing to say. So I find myself either saying nothing at all, something soul-crushingly dull, or something that, upon later reflection, is insane. And because of this, I struggle to build the real connections that I so desperately crave.

When making the work in this show, I abandoned the idea of trying to make work that said something good, or wise, or funny, and opted instead to shine a light on the crap things that I find myself saying in real-life conversations. I wanted to depict the mundane truth, the desperate nothingness, the clutching at straws and the failed attempts to connect.

A big posthumous ‘thank you’ to Caravaggio, whose paintings I used as references for a lot of the drawings. And also to Raymond Carver, whose short story and book of the same title ‘What We Talk About When We Talk About Love’ inspired the title of the show.

Bridge Cottage is one of Port Sunlight’s oldest and finest cottages and directly overlooks the Lyceum and Dell Bridge. Completed in 1892 by architects Douglas and Fordham, its distinctive design and exterior stone finish sets it apart from other houses in the village.

Its first occupant was William Lever himself, who used it as an occasional home until 1900. It was then reserved for village residents of high standing from school headmasters to chief civil engineers.