Growing up in the mountains of North Wales has given me a love and affinity for the natural world, and this is a strong thread that runs throughout my work. I am an artist and researcher pursuing an active interest in ecology, sociology and psychology and the interconnectedness of these fields.
Our cosmological stories about our place in nature affect our interactions with it on a personal and cultural level. Many of the human induced environmental problems and mental health issues such as depression and loneliness stem from our alienation from the natural world and wider web of ecological life. We relate to the world through our sensory interactions with it, and art can offer the possibility for a threshold experience, creating openings and opportunities for transformation in our understandings and beliefs.
My work is an invitation to take part in an embodied relationship with the natural world – from the weeds between paving slabs to deep mossy woodland. From guided audio walks to woodland sculptures, it is developed through a direct exploration of place and explores the importance of direct sensory relationship, taking time and paying attention. Weaving together the theoretical and the embodied, the work provides an opportunity to engage in sensory experience, and in the process become a participant. It invites us to look more closely, become familiar with and experience our kinship and interconnection with the more-than-human world in a way that transcends the intellectual.
Through my work I seek to rekindle our feeling of belonging by bringing us back into intimate contact with our surroundings, and the creatures and plants which inhabit it. Through this I aim to be part of a new story, one that works towards changing our relationship from a disconnected, hierarchical one, to one of connectedness. A story that can show us how to live in gratitude and reciprocity with the natural world and lead to the mutual flourishing of both.