"Memory Palace" relates to my long term obsession with the ladder as an image. For some 15 years I have continually photographed ladders of all kinds in a variety of situations and I have a rich well of ladder images from which to choose from.

Except for the choice of modern materials, the ladder has changed very little since its invention. I am continually fascinated by the varied uses of ladders by primitive societies. In particular, I am interested in the sacred and mythological uses. In my own work, I am intrigued with the metaphorical connotations that the act of using a ladder implies- climbing to heights normally out of reach, or moving from one point to another. Photographs and the act of photography permit the exploration of ladders as found objects within specific contexts. Sometimes I work within or from that original context but normally my method of working is to enlarge and juxtapose and thereby alter the original representation of the subject. I have found that using an ordinary or banal subject affords me the greatest degree of manipulation.

My untraditional approach to photography has included extending and / or subverting the frame. It was a natural transition to begin working in photo-sculpture. I always take photographs sequentially thinking about they can be 'put back together.' An interest in constructivist reconfiguration has led me finally to Installation as a format.

This installation which is called "Memory Palace" after the series is the second installation of ladders: the first ladder installation called "Where all ladders start" was at Wellesley College in 1988 as part of a faculty exhibition. Ladders are for me a memory trace not unlike the mnemonic memory systems devised in the Middle Ages. All things are remembered by and in association with particular ladder images.
- Anna Strickland, May 9, 1997