Anne Ramsden explores the significance that material objects have on our sense of self. In making Study for Possession, Ramsden selected images of objects from home decorating magazines and, using a rubbing technique, transferred them to paper. These drawings of free floating objects, detached from context, are emblems of the comfort and self-affirmation derived from acquisition. Ramsden also comments on the association of the home with femininity: in the past, home decorating and the selection of linens and china was almost exclusively the purview of women. By revealing the extent to which we rely on the promise of objects to define ourselves, Ramsden exposes how our possessions, in effect, come to possess us. This series of Study drawings are associated with an installation work, Possession, which features a staged vortex of photographs of significant objects belonging to friends of the artist.

Ramsden has a BA from Queen’s University (1973), a BFA from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (1977) and an MFA from Concordia University (1983). Ramsden has been an influential teacher at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver and, more recently, at the Université du Québec à Montréal.