So19 Art: "VIEWING VICTORIAN CRIME"

Completed last week, this digital collage celebrates the work and books of Angela Buckley, who writes, blogs and posts as The Victorian Supersleuth. My interview with Angela on her book on Amelia Dyer can be read here; the interview's second half, covering her other books, will appear on So19 this fall.

The background is a vintage photo of the (now defunct) Clappers bridge in Reading. I liked the energy and symbolism of the water, which suggests both the rushing passage of time and the turbulence that crime brings in its wake.The bridge is among the settings in Buckley's book Amelia Dyer and the Baby Farm Murders.

The three images in the magnifying-glass lenses come from Buckley's book covers: the Amelia Dyer cover in the center, part of the cover of her The Real Sherlock Holmes at left, and part of the cover of her Who Killed Constable Cock at right. A semi-transparent image of a circular lens used on top of the book cover bits helps give the magnifying lenses a more realistic look.

The circular motifs above the two smaller magnifying glasses combine a key motivation for crime (money, in the form of a 19th-century half-sovereign coin) and a historic result of criminal activity (the hangman's rope). 

Buckley's initials and her Victorian Supersleuth soubriquet appear in a font called Bleeding Cowboys, which I love for its grungy, grandiose flourishes. An antique wood frame surrounds the whole. The bold blue and gold colors of the piece felt suggestive of police uniforms as well as nicely Victorian to me.

It's so much fun to make art inspired by the generous and talented authors who chat with me on So19. Thanks to Angela and her rich, thoughtful books for providing such great inspiration for this piece.

For more on Angela, visit http://victorian-supersleuth.com. Visit https://www.sfoxarts.com and https://www.sfoxartsblog.com for more on me. 


Digital Collage (c) Suzanne Fox 2021.
Book cover images used with author permission.
Vintage public domain photo of the Clappers Bridge
All other images are stock images