{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1785839"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1785839/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PC5414/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PC5414/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PC5414","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1785839","accessionNumber":"PH.3392-2024","objectType":"photograph","titles":[{"title":"Celestial Meditations II","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"'Celestial Meditations II' is a from a series of digital collages by the same name, which bring together elements of photography and painting, using performative self-portraiture to depict imagined histories and create speculative Afro-futures. In this constructed scene, Whittle is seen crouching within a rocky, celestial landscape. Partly shrouded in Scottish tartan, a reference to her adopted home, she includes objects such as pineapples and cowrie shells to symbolise her diasporic Caribbean and African heritage. The image purposefully presents a DIY aesthetic, a visual style that is characteristic of her work, to play with the notion of ‘poor images’ within society’s pervasive digital culture.  \r\n","physicalDescription":"Colour photograph (digital collage) of woman in centre-frame with pineapple in each hand, set against blue and red celestial backdrop with large rocks. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Whittle, Alberta","id":"AUTH406011"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":"Alberta Whittle is a multidisciplinary artist who was born in Bridgetown, Barbados and now lives and works in Glasgow. Using an artistic practice which spans photography, digital collage, film, installation, sculpture, performance and writing, Whittle questions the historic legacies of race, colonialism and migration. Her creative practice is motivated by self and collective care as radical methods in challenging anti-blackness and racial constructs. "}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"photographic paper","id":"AAT14190"}],"techniques":[{"text":"C-type process","id":"THES258425"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Photography\r\nDigital collage","categories":[{"text":"Women artists","id":"THES387590"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"DOP","id":"THES291628"},"images":["2025PC5414"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLD","id":"THES49658"},"free":"","case":"TST","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"photograph","id":"AAT46300"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""},{"date":{"text":"2017","earliest":"2017-01-01","latest":"2017-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Gift of Sara Elizabeth and Charlotte Victoria Freeman Mughal","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"647","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"frame","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"914","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"frame","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Photograph by Alberta Whittle, 'Celestial Meditations II' 2017, chromogenic print, 64.7 x 91.4 cm. ","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Cut Out: A Feminist History of Photo Collage, Montage and Assemblage (T&H, V&A publishing, spring 2026)\r\n\r\nAlberta Whittle is a multidisciplinary artist born in Barbados and now living and working in Glasgow, Scotland. Using photography, film, installation and performance, Whittle questions the legacies of race, colonialism and migration. Celestial Meditations II is a digital collage combining photography and painting, using performative self-portraiture to depict imagined histories and a speculative Afrofuture. In this constructed scene, Whittle is seen crouching among the barren rocks of a celestial landscape. She includes objects such as pineapples and cowrie shells to symbolize her diasporic Caribbean and African heritage, and she is partly shrouded in Scottish tartan – a reference to her adopted home. Whittle’s images have a DIY aesthetic, playing with the notion of ‘poor images’ and digital culture. ","date":{"text":"03/12/2025","earliest":"2025-12-03","latest":"2025-12-03"}}],"partNumbers":["PH.3392-2024"],"accessionNumberNum":"3392","accessionNumberPrefix":"PH","accessionYear":2024,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-19","recordCreationDate":"2024-08-12","availableToBook":false}}