Setting out to develop a practice with my personal sense of well-being and my flourishing as primary goals, my Masters project engages with naturally occurring clay, and focuses on three inter-woven themes;
A sense of personal Well-Being
Achieving well-being through Making
Achieving well-being through Sharing my making
I find a sense of well-being through working en plein air, surrounded by nature. I produce indexes recording my interventions with the natural landscape, chiefly artefacts, photographs, film and shared moments. I embed narratives throughout my process: my choice of place, medium, indexing, forms, foraged organic matter, and through wood firing artefacts. Moments are made special through sharing making with community workshops, engaging in raw, foraged clay soil, making pinch pots.
In these moments I find both a personal and shared sense of well-being, made real through the craft of Making. My research and making led to a profound shift of my approach to material engagement, where upon entering the 'flow' of matter, forms appear.
Why 'We Are Here'?
I have three interpretations of my project title, with 'being present' at their core:
We are Present and in the Moment.
Essentially, mindfulness. Aware of ourselves, and our surroundings. Aware of the eternal now, ultimately improving subjective well-being.
We are Making
We are Here, evidenced by our artefacts. We are aware of how our interventions may - or may not be - a part of the natural, universal flow, and therefore aware of humanity’s affect on the natural world.
We are Sharing
We are Here, making together. We are creating moments, connecting and sharing with each other.
These themes are explored in the pages linked below.
BIOGRAPHY
I have been working with clayey sub-soil since 2008, when I started working in schools building wood-fired ovens from cob - a mixture of clay soil, sand and straw. Through my Masters degree I have been deepening my knowledge of soil, developing a process of making with a near-neutral environmental impact, revealing the beauty and importance of the matter that forms, nurtures and sustains us.
Since 1998 I have also worked as a freelance Graphic Designer and Photographer, skills which I bring to my practice forming a mix of studio-based, community engagement and personal craft activities, together making my own art of enquiry.
Explore my non Masters Project work through these websites:
