Stiwdio Maelor residency - Learning to Wobble →

November 9, 2026

Stiwdio Maelor residency 1st to 18th October 2026

Learning to wobble

Day 1.

A travel day arriving just before 4pm. With a mix-up with emails confusing dates, it could have been a better start but I was very relaxed and unbothered. Years ago, I was to build an installation in Cuneo, Italy. A mix-up in emails and language meant I arrived at the train station around midday, a little stressed and alone. I stood in the noon heat and cried. Thoughts - ‘I haven’t got a proper contract, where do I go, what am I going to do, I don’t have much money’. Feeling incredibly stupid, vulnerable, tired from travelling and negotiating travel in italian, I gave myself a talking to (in English), bought a map, made a phone call and bought an espresso in the nearest bar. On my second cup, which wasn’t the best of ideas in my state, someone arrived to collect me guessing where I would be. All turned out well but these thoughts came back to me as I stood on this doorstep in Wales. What have I learned, double, triple check everything. Did I do it? – no!

My room and studio in the attic were just what I wanted and needed. I loved the space, the strangely angled view from the bed out to the stairs and the sense of peace.

I felt I had to make something immediately and with the odd mix of materials I had brought which included Modroc, I made a mask based on my face. In 2023, whilst sitting on a mustard-yellow bedspread in Lugano, Switzerland where I was attending a sound conference, I wrote that I should make no more new things and instead follow my ideas of sustainability about materials. This was to be what I had found, skip-dived for, acquired by various means. The place was important, I think mainly because of the prosperity I saw in Switzerland but also, travelling brings an opportunity to reflect during all the waiting that happens. The mask was left to dry and went to bed very early.

Day 2.

What a difference a day makes! Up and running, literally. Home for breakfast, home being the place where I am not the place where my belongings are. This opens up a lot of thoughts about home that maybe one day, I will have a greater understanding. I am going to skip about a bit, but on day 3a (more on that later) I marked a small piece of driftwood with the word ‘home’ on it reminiscent to all the quaint and offbeat houses I have seen over the years with such a sign, painted in red, of course. Worked on the mask, placing it in the window with the most sunshine to dry. Writing, drawing, thinking until afternoon and then out for a walk in the sunshine. Dog walkers know all the walks and soon got a chance to speak to Millie’s owner and got directions. This has proved to be my favourite photo and encapsulates everything I was to learn about the local environment, including
perennial wet feet and clothes!

Later in the residency, after lots of rain, the stream had grown and it had changed to leaping across the stepping stones and still getting wet feet.

Day 3

Up and running again. Today, I recorded my run from door to door. Starts with the sound of the shutting of the door. It is really important to have lots of pauses. It is not really about the running but about taking in sensual information about my location and the environment but also letting those thoughts/feelings wander around in my head. Collected little slate pieces echoing the ones that surround the fields and graveyard – just in case they get out! I tried to make a circle of them with string as the connecting cable but realise that in the field they are anchored into the earth. I could perhaps try it with clay. Took a trip to Machynlleth, had coffee, went in book shops. Stopped at Tan-y-Coed forest park on way back and did a lot of recording. Moss, fungi, rotting tree stumps, mud etc. it was surprising how loud the fungi and termites in tree stump were.

Day 4

Same routine then working on stones and downloading recordings. Tried to make a print of the stones with coffee by placing the stones in a ring with the string still attached thinking it would create a clear outline. Wrong, of course! The circle was deliberately not complete. To my way of thinking, this is important because it gives a sense of movement, of discontinuity, of not know which end is the start or finish. I think, in some ways, it defines my practice as an ongoing interweaving of thoughts and concepts rather than a linear path. It is linear, of course, but I am happy to take all the little offshoots and pathlets along the way which may or may not loop back to the main path. I am happy with either scenario. Walking is part of my art practice, both as a practice in itself and as a tool. These analogies relate to walks I have done in the past such as following a path through thick forest only delineated by bent grass, meandering aimlessly in a field, using a compass in dense fog to negotiate a moor but ending up in nearly the right place. It is always curiosity that sends me in another direction.

Running is slightly different. I run in whatever direction my feet are inclined to go rather than setting out in a deliberate, pre-planned direction. The intense physical movement gives me clear thinking whereas walking allows me to ponder more deeply into ideas.

Day 5

After run, another try at the print.

I realised a long time ago that print-making in any form other than in the darkroom which I loved, was not my forte. I think it is the waiting for drying. But I will keep trying. Putting my thoughts into a booklet about improvisation that explores the way the mind wanders and pages are followed by arrows and not consecutively placed.

Print in progress just using the string not the stones. Slate is a remarkable surface that doesn’t hold the stain and is untouched by the coffee. I will take them back to my studio and use clay to keep them upright (Later, I found my clay was an unloved ‘stone’).

I began drawing lines, edges where hills meet the sky on my usual thin strip of Fabriano paper, 3m by 10cms.

Day 6

No run but walked up Cader Idris (863m or 248 lengths of my drawing paper) with Mary. Very foggy and no views. Lots and lots of steps and my knees hurt on the way down which they never have done before. The notice board cited the magnificent views but today, it was very low cloud which added its own atmosphere but occasionally became an exercise in walking rather than a pleasure as you could only see just in front of you for mso0t of the time. The stream rushing down the mountain was a constant accompaniment until above the cwm.

Looking towards cwm in rare view between clouds

It took 6 hours but, looking back, rather than at the time, it was a great walk and so glad to have done it. There were some beautiful moments such as when each seed head of grass held a droplet of water giving a sparkling effect. Also, some bright lichens, red and neon yellow that I have yet to identify.

Near the top, just rocks and scree. Got a little lost but regained path (several times, thanks to Mary and her local knowledge).

Day 1a

Resumed running and then went to get Mik. Unfortunately an urgent family matter arose and it took a couple of days before I got back. Changed my head space but sure I will get back to it. It is different having someone here and have had to tidy up the studio as I had used all of it. So this is day 1a rather than day 7.

Prints completed before I left are now dry. Not sure what I think but quite like them. It is hard to see that the circle does not quite meet. Whilst the original stones and the string were a broken circle, the coffee stain filled in the gaps. Went to pub with Mary and Veronica, walked there and back. A long day as we followed the sat nav’s quickest route. It is a liar!

Day 2a

Worked on more mask layers and think the base is now finished. Lured to Ynyslas Beach instead of working on art. Collected lots of treasures – shells, stones etc. They will end up on my ‘treasures’ shelf in the studio for future inspiration.

Made the first layer of the mask using ink.

Day 3a

Worked on a panoramic view around Corris starting at Maelor. Added info attached by strings but do not really like the work, well, like the drawing but not how the info is attached. The idea is that you pick up each ‘card’ and place it against the drawing. Thinking back to Acoustical Imagery in Catania which was a better way of doing it. The viewer overlaid their thoughts in drawing and text directly on tracing paper over the top. In the past, I have tried having a timeline but that seemed a little cumbersome too.

The days are a mix of the running, walking, drawing, making and taking time to think. I love this place, the way the hills and clouds wrap around you enveloping you in a sense of peace and also a feeling of being within rather than without. I am a fairly solitary person but here, it is as if you don’t need anyone, the environment provides it all.

Day 4a

Began drawing the outlines in concertina book.

They are overlapping and from around Corris but covering a wider distance. I will add the shoreline form Ynylas during the geology walk tomorrow and maybe the river. There are gaps where the low cloud obscured the mountain top. Somehow, I am spending more time deep within the residency rather than making time to write about it. The days are full and now adding recording and collaborating with Mik. The discrepancy between seeing and hearing is a difficult one to get across on the page just as it is in a gallery. I will eventually make a list! Began a mind map, Constellations of Practice, linking various ways of working -themes and concerns.

Went into Machynlleth to buy bamboo and indulge in my new found love of vegan Welsh cakes.

Made harps out of bamboo and string.

Day 5a

Working on mask, harps, drawing. Down to Ynyslas beach for geology talk. There is so much I don’t know about sand dunes.

New treasures include the lower jaw of a rabbit and beautiful stones.

Mask now several layers in, the ink dries quickly.

Day 6a

Mask in final stages however, I know that it will have some adjustments later. I attached fastenings and began the intensive process of learning to move within it. It embodies the environment and holds the essence of place. The movement will not just echo this but gain a life of its own reflecting my place within it.

Need to gather the poetics of here to carry with me when I leave.

I have not added all the conversations with Veronica Calarco and with her partner, Mary with whom I went up Cader Idris with, whose place this is - the walks we have had and not just to the pub!

I have called this text Happenstance and Learning to wobble. After nearly two weeks, I think I have begun the learning process. It begins with a full body wobble, a looseness of limbs and joints that can be effected in any space. It will be the rushing of the river, the wind down the valley, the cloud around your shoulders, the smell of the damp woodland, the clamber through steep forest and the cold of the river on warm skin. It will be in the Corris mask. The next stage of learning is transferring this wobble to the mind to create a similar looseness of thought and extrapolate my ideas without regard to convention and internal constriction.

Day 7a

Last productive day with new online walking group meeting 10.30. We have been collected into a group by Fred Adams and Geert of walklistencreate (walc) with the intention of creating a geolocative map that encompasses all our walking practices from our locations of Australia, Portugal, Greece, Scotland, England. Don’t know how this is going to work but feel that I am in an ideal place and will use Corris as my place as I have images, videos and sound tracks to accompany my text. However, can only listen as internet is awry. Go out for recording as soon as it finished - plants in the liminal area by
the river., ‘harps’ by river and humming in the river.

Humming with the river was the action that I wanted to do all the time here. It was important to build up a sense of ‘here’ before doing so. My first thoughts were that I was just putting it off but I have gained a deeper understanding of my practice and realise that there is a moment of doing things, when it is right. This last full day was right. I have not been sure whether I have been humming in harmony which were my first thoughts, alongside of with or, even, against. For now, I will use ‘with’.

Not having a place here for all the recordings, I have made a list so I can remember later - Slow run with pauses, mud in forest, rotting tree stump (termites?), group of fungi on different stump, ivy on wall, fern, in long grass, river in fairly still pool, rotting birch tree by river, in rushing part of river, humming across river with Mik at bottom of Cader Idris at different distances, Mik’s 3 songs, puddle by river, humming in river at chin level.

Later, walk to bottom of Cader Idris and humming with Mik across the river.

Tiny piece of lichen. I had ordered a digital microscope but unfortunately, it hadn’t arrived so I have taken a very tiny piece, magnified here, to examine later.

Day 8a Leaving day but first, Walc meeting 8 to 11. Or not! No electric and computer low in battery. No internet. Abandon attempt and leave early.

Thoughts

This writing may all be too long, too prosaic.

Overall, a fantastic residency. Loved being able to open the door and walk, run straight away. Enjoyed the proximity of the studio to the bed! Being able to play with no agenda, being able to use my time as I wanted. Doing things like making the prints was so far from what I do and know that it is good - to fail to learn. It is so difficult to add sound recordings. Even here, I have not added sound or video due to space.

It is now the beginning of November, and I have gained a deeper understanding of my practice that was helped by the residency. Two things have happened. Firstly, I was asked to do a video interview about my work conducted by Elham Puriya Mehr in which she asked very pertinent questions. She was incredibly taken with the mask which was hanging in my studio as well as a previous one that I had made of Stanton Moor in Derbyshire. And secondly, I went to a conference she had organised with Fereshte Moosavi at which Irit Rogoff was speaking. Her ideas about research and practice were almost exactly as I thought about it in relation to myself and that I have had such trouble getting across to people over the years. I have felt so at odds that I have lost some confidence and hope that I now can, with the help of Maelor residency, Elham and Irit grow. In other words, I have learnt to wobble that can now extend from body to brain through. Series of unexpected events – happenstance.

Many peregrinations through the same small space →

August 4, 2026

Many peregrinations through the same small space

It is the end of March and I am wandering around, through and in a patch of land by the edge of the River Soar in the East Midlands, UK which I take care of, looking, hearing, sensing, smelling and tasting, especially the water mint. It is not a garden although food plants are grown in containers placed high up to fool the rabbits. Some of the wild plants are edible, think nettle soup, bubble and squeak with nettles instead of cabbage, water mint tea and dandelion salad. It is measured using feets, my unit of measurement where one feets is the length of my clumpy, waterproof shoes. The patch is 62 feets and, variably, by 41 feets. It is an ecotone, sometimes land, sometimes water. When it is wet, it is very, very wet and needs more than waterproof shoes to cross it.

April

Today, I am walking slowly, each step risks flattening one of the many seedlings that have sprung up due to the increase in light. The three willow trees that dominate the patch were pollarded last year removing their, and my, umbrella of shade and rain protection. It has rained now and the earth smells good. Under the trees, though, the earth is still dry and cracked. Insects climb in and out of the cracks – ants and little beetles mostly. I move a twig with my toe and a centipede tries to find somewhere new to hide. I move the twig back to its original place. Moving so slowly and quietly in this tiny area exposes the amount of life in such a small space and makes me think of the ecological damage being done elsewhere, when, here, it is abundant in living things. Cultivating the wild seems to be a good phrase to describe what I am doing here.

The floods which happen several times a year bring with them ‘delights’ such as Himalayan Balsam and the orange variety which I remove due to their explosive seeding habits. Later, there will be an immense growth of pennywort in the water which chokes the oxygen in the water. Yesterday, there was a small oil spill which has driven away the shags which were catching fish. Hopefully, I will see them back soon.

Focusing on the microscopic, there is so much to learn. I am beginning to understand how the plants grow and are in tune with the passing of time throughout the season. One plant grows as another is at the end of its cycle. All is here if we care to look properly. The birds begin earlier each day and leave the traffic sound behind as that comes later. Walking is so much more than putting one foot in front of another. I take many pauses, to look and listen.

I try walking in thick socks, feeling the ground beneath my feet. Each shuffling step reveals a new sensation. Afterwards, I find that I have gathered seeds of all kinds. They cling to the fabric and don’t release easily. I am like a sheep carrying the seeds to new places in my fleece.

I plant the socks in rough compost.

May

Now everything is growing profusely and through plotting and drawing, I begin counting and naming species – creeping buttercup, creeping nettles, dock, water dock, dandelion, celandine, ground ivy, ground elder, elder, sycamore, willow, giant willowherb, figwort, evening primrose, garlic mustard (another one for eating), white dead nettle, reed mace or bulrush that is slowly shedding its seeds, reeds, moss, bracket fungus, wood avens alongside ants, gnats, earthworms, centipedes and, at this moment, one blue tit. A great spotted woodpecker was here this morning with chaffinches, moorhens and mallards. I can hear other birds in a nearby wood as well as traffic nearby.

I was originally thinking that bracket fungus grow slowly but there have been many changes with one falling off and others appearing

I start to document them on tracing paper adding insects and animals to a second layer. They will be a continuous document of the patch, I hope. I didn’t realise that tracing paper is so hard to photograph!

June

A month of constant change. I meander daily getting stung by nettles, watching bees and hoverflies on the watermint and loosestrife flowers particularly. Swallows are very active in the early evening when the tiny fish begin coming to the surface for flies. A continuous pageant of survival.

My drawings are becoming crowded in places and I am wearing little paths through the plants. The meadowsweet adds it scent to the air. I am reminded of the old traditions of using plants for domestic purposes, rituals and medicines. I think about the colours now, a riot of colour, as they say. The year began with yellow flowers, now it is more pink and white. I add a third page to my drawings that focuses on colour.

July

Things have now changed completely. The ground is crisp underfoot and crunches like the snap of a gingernut biscuit. The branches of the willow have grown long enough to tangle in your hair and face. The meadowsweet flowers are browning and becoming seedheads. The prickly lettuce is taller than me. Some parts are impenetrable especially the bindweed that is grasping onto the giant willowherb, the white flowers uncurling in the morning with the sun and retreating at dusk.

New drawings are made of the three distinct layers of plant growth from a middle perspective.

When placed together, it gives an overall picture of what I can see in the space of a few steps sideways along the edge of the patch but also adds a little depth. You don’t see everything at once.

I continue my wanderings and wonderings and create a new page of ‘events’.

Wandering around, there are many sensations from bites to sweet odours

It notes the biting ants, the hole in the tree that a rabbit has made a home in, the places made for frogs and toads by the fence, the branch where the pigeons gather and make a lot of noise, the sudden profusion of bulrushes and where plants such as yellow iris have died back to be overtaken by something else until next year when the cycle will begin again. Gulls have arrived to accompany the terns that are here most of the year.

The layers of drawing are put in order to be viewed as a whole, each overlapping the other representing change, movement and exchange.

And the socks, they have begun sprouting and showing very tiny seedlings.

Walk slowly. A response to walk listen create - walc

April 16, 2026

Walk slowly

I am walking around, through and in a patch of land by the edge of a river which I take care of. It is not a garden although food plants are grown in containers and some of the plants that grow wild are edible. Think nettle soup and bubble and squeak with nettles (I never know which is the squeak in the traditional potato and cabbage dish), water mint tea and dandelion salad. Using feets as a measurement where one feets is the length of my clumpy, waterproof shoes. The patch is 62 feets and, variably, by 41 feets. It is an ecotone, sometimes land, sometimes water. When it is wet, it is very, very wet and needs more than waterproof shoes to cross it.

Today, I am walking slowly, paying attention to everything around me and focusing minutely on the many seedlings that have sprung up due to the increase in light as the three willow trees were pollarded at the end of last year. It has rained and the earth smells good, petrichor I think it is called. I am wearing shoes because of the nettles but in the small areas of grass, it is possible to be barefoot. Under the trees, the earth is dry and cracked even after the rain due to their roots. Insects climb in and out of the cracks – ants and little beetles mostly. I move a twig with my toe and a centipede tries to find somewhere new to hide. Moving so slowly and quietly in this tiny area brings home the amount of life in such a small space and makes me think of the ecological damage being done when, here, it is abundant in living things. Cultivating the wild seems to be a good phrase to describe what I am doing here.

I walk here every day but with a purpose, but today, I am wandering, not following the edge just looking, hearing, sensing, smelling and occasionally tasting especially the water mint.

I begin counting and naming species – creeping buttercup, creeping nettles, dock, water dock, dandelion, celandine, ground ivy, ground elder, elder, sycamore, willow, giant willowherb, figwort, evening primrose, garlic mustard (another one for eating), white dead nettle, reed mace or bulrush that is slowly shedding its seeds, reeds, moss, bracket fungus, wood avens alongside ants, gnats, earthworms, centipedes and, at this moment, one blue tit. A great spotted woodpecker was here this morning with chaffinches, moorhens and mallards. I can hear other birds in a nearby wood as well as traffic nearby.

I am becoming wary of stepping on the hundreds of seedlings that I can’t yet identify. Do I need to? Is it not enough for me to know they are here?

March 2026

March 9, 2026

Progress is being made! I have probably done more thinking than making. Working on several projects in line with my ideas of not bringing new things into the world. Foraging for materials and gathering little treasures that have been discarded by somebody, something, somewhere. I have begun a treasures shelf in my studio. It contains a paper wasp’s nest, a jar of feathers, Hammersmith Bridge - a chunk of wood that came from the original bridge when it was being repaired, two perspex boxes with lone figures inside - not quite good enough for the intended exhibition, a yellow table tennis ball, pebbles, three tiny ‘paintings’ - it is beginning to feel like that old game, Kim’s game, where you look at things on a. tray for 30 seconds and then cover them up and try to remember them. In a grand tidying up of my studio, I have managed to place all my black notebooks together, over 100 of them, which makes me feel very happy.

Summing up 2025 and moving forward into 2026

January 19, 2026

Summing up the year 2025, it was busy! Lots of new things and different ways of working which necessitated some time away from making to thinking about making. now, I have a new impetus and some different ideas of how to proceed. A main thing is to continue my thoughts of not bringing any new materials into the world especially those that cannot be disposed of sustainably so using recycled materials and those I already have will be a feature. I want to create more slowly, to really make my work meaningful. This doesn’t mean I can’t play anymore!

2026 will see the essay, The Moon, published in Alessandra Calanchi’s new book Far from the Eyes. The essay explores all the implications of my artwork, The Moon from its recording location on a beach used as a landing place during WWII in Normandy to its location in a church in Caen. It covers aspects of time in relation to the visitors’ presence and the universe and to the intimate relationship of the moon to menstrual cycles.

It will also see the publication of a collaborative paper, Sound in the Extended Moment, with Anke Haun (DE) in Forumklanglandschaft’s conference publication, Ways of Listening. In addition, there will be a discussion of the accompanying artwork.

2025 was a busy year from the aforementioned conference at the University of Catania Catania, Sicily with the participatory drawing, Acoustical imagery and paper, Sound in the extended moment with Anke Haun (DE). The journey from Nottingham to Sicily was made by bus, train, ferry and foot with the great pleasure of walking across the border from France to Italy. This deepens my long-standing research into borders.

Offshoot was a residency & exhibition using sculpture & sound with German artist, Margit Rusert (https://margit-rusert.de) took place at Broadway Gallery, Nottingham and many thanks for the support of Near Now (nearnow.org.uk) at Broadway. Using cast-off wiring as the basis for the sculpture, we aimed to look at biodiversity of plant forms and used sound to amplify what may be being lost in the world today.

At Artcore Gallery’s RR 30th Anniversary exhibition, I presented The Forgotten & Dear Passengers. Dear Passengers was a performative drawing created during a journey from Nottingham to Osnabrück in 2024 for Artcore Gallery, Derby (artcoreuk.com). This was accompanied by a triangle of sound mad during the journey. This work was also shown at Encounters, Surface Gallery, Nottingham where I now have a studio.

Journey to Catania

January 19, 2026

Invited to present a paper and drawings at FKL (Forumklanglandschaft) conference in Catania, Sicily, it was necessary to make a drawing that reflected the soundscape of the journey. This is a straightforward account of the journey mostly for my memory. The interesting reflections will come later! With my partner, we began on September the 2nd from Nottingham and travelled by bus to London, walked to the train station via Regent’s Park Zoo path which is where the camel came in, an unlikely addition to the drawing. The train took us to Lille in time for the early morning market (and coffee) and then to Marseille. Meandering along the south coast of France by bus, we then walked across the Italian border beginning in Menton and finishing in Ventimiglia. Train to Genovà and ferry to Palermo in Sicily. We began in a thunderstorm. Palermo is the capital of Sicily and totally different from what I expected. From here, to Sferrocavallo, Agrigento, Enna and Siracusa before the destination for the conference of Catania. A four day conference and a paper not quite finished! Leasing with Anke Haun who had proposed our collaboration we eventually managed to finish it in reasonable English. At the end, it was to Naples by train with the train being put on the ferry at Messina for the crossing. Then to Turin and Paris, London and Nottingham. Don’t think `I will travel by train for a bit. As I said, this is just an account. There is so much to process that will influence my artwork eventually but for now, it is downloading photos and sound pieces. Then getting the paper in order, no easy feat with two people in different countries and languages, and writing a text that I have been asked to contribute to a book.

Offshoot, story of a residency and exhibition

August 18, 2025

I have written the story of the Offshoot Residency and Exhibition in the form of a blog. It is an evaluation as well as thoughts and ideas and purely my view.

mrusert@osnanet.de https://margit-rusert.de

drcawright@yahoo.com https://chriswright.co.uk

Residency diary

2025

This plan has been hatching since June 2024 during my residency to Osnabrück commissioned by Artcore Gallery, Derby. It is rare that you meet someone who you get along with and their work coincides with yours enough to plan something in the future. Through my membership of Near Now, Broadway, Nottingham, I was offered the gallery. This was massive support and enabled this 2025 residency and exhibition to go ahead. We had been discussing the what’s, why’s, when’s and how’s for weeks, constant messaging and emails until we finally after many changes, we finally came up with what we were about.

In this audio sculptural installation, our vision is to create a place where nothing is certain, where things – plants, fungi, or even bacteria – reach from the top to the bottom, from corners and centre and out to the edges. Resonances, that may or may not be familiar, encompass the gallery. In, round or through the work in the exhibition, individual sounds play quietly amongst the sculptures creating micro worlds.

Taking Rusert’s earlier sculptures, The Winner Takes It All, an exploration of plant mutation, as an inspiration, Offshootimagines what happens next. We are presently destroying our own environment due to individual behaviour and to corporate greed. This work at Broadway Gallery, Nottingham, supported by Near Now, explores the natural environment, particularly of plants, to try and gain an understanding of how we might see and hear the earth in a future time.

Offshoot aims to stimulate discussion about sustainability, biodiversity and ecology, which arises through the materials and processes involved in the production of the work. It also looks at how the possibilities of sculpture and sound reinforce each other in the context of ecological issues. We welcome all viewpoints and present an invitation to take part either through the making or in conversation in either English or German.

Throughout the making of this work, every effort is made to use re-purposed and recycled materials and to carry out the residency in accordance with our principles.

Day 1 Tuesday June 17th

The first day - Margit arrived. We sat on the swings by the bus station, laughed and took photos. Went to an exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary, looked at Broadway Gallery through the window and talked. I had already shared photos, but it is not easy to gauge the size without seeing it in real life. Met Lee Nicholls, the creative producer at Broadway who has supported this project so much. In fact, without him, there would have been no project so thanks Lee.

Day 2 Wednesday June 18th

Went to Artcore Gallery, Derby to meet Zahir Shaik, the artistic director. I realise that this is how residencies should work in an ideal world – the meeting of people on a similar wavelength – that then begins a life on its own. Artcore are printing leaflets and doing social media for us, thank you. This multi-organisation support is so valuable. It is hard to create this work without them.

Day 3 Thursday June 19th

Starting a couple of days early, we began with a huge pile of wires, some drawings on plastic sheet by Margit and lots of ambition and enthusiasm. I have been collecting wires for a few weeks from places such as an electrical garage, Surface Gallery, a neighbour who, amazingly, had a whole sack full of old computer and data cables and Near Now. The use of this material was initiated because we needed a lot of it, it was free, it had the potential to be sculptural, able to be manipulated. It had the capacity to look like roots, mycelium and other plant-like structures. It also had a relationship to how we live our lives. Whilst satellites and The Cloud have taken over some need for cables, we are still reliant on them for many things. We began with the wires - sorting, cleaning, bundling and generally testing what they could and would do. Stripping cables of their outer coating revealed treasures within.

Margit began by drawing over the original drawings on the plastic sheeting creating new green shoots that both encompassed and enhanced the original drawing. All was uncertain at this stage, it was a place of play. I feel trepidatious about some aspects of the collaboration but feel sure we can work it out. As always, with projects of this sort, you realise that perhaps we should have talked more especially about materials and ways of working. I thought we had but there should have been more.

Day 4 Friday June 20th

The drawing continues. Wire structures appear on the walls. They are like drawings - drawing with wire that echoes Margit’s work or, Margit’s drawings echo the wire sculptures. There is some semblance to the natural world, such as lianas that drape onto the floor. These structures, or, rather, unstructures, reference my experiences whilst travelling. Fishing wires now create zig-zags across the ceiling ready to hang from. It is a perpetual problem of how to attach things to the walls and ceiling as no holes can be made. The former use of the gallery as a shop meant that there are very many plug sockets which I covered with paper. However, some fixtures were used as supports making the gallery look like it was part of an abandoned site.

We had decided to invite guest artists for half days. We thought this would both enhance the work, provide inspiration and keep the conversation about biodiversity to the forefront. We almost had cold feet about this, thinking that it would be a distraction but the first of the guest artists was Louise Garland and it worked well. She made a surreal plant-like hanging referencing Fibonacci sequences. This photo includes the reflections of the house opposite.

A1 posters, courtesy of Near Now, have arrived and look great. Flyers, printed by Artcore, have been distributed to various cafés, galleries etc. Visitors invited as part of an ongoing process.

Day 5 Saturday June 21st

Stayed away from the gallery for Margit to rest and us to reflect, assess progress and talk. I feel that I have been working on this project for weeks, there is always a lot of things to do, emails, meetings etc. that I also feel a bit weary and welcome the rest that comes with have actually having begun. Having unexpectedly gained a couple of extra days, we are relaxed, should we be?

Day 6 Sunday June 22nd

Another rest day doing nothing special but introducing Margit to local places and customs such as going to the pub. Amazing what 3 pints of lime and soda can do!

Day 7 Monday June 23rd

After a weekend off to reflect on the start that has been made, it is back to drawing and manipulating wire. I realised we needed an information sheet for guests

Art and Biodiversity: Sculpture and Sound

A residency and exhibition that brings together two artists from England and Germany in a practical conversation between art and the environment, sculpture and sound.

The residency will open on June 24th with an almost empty gallery with a vision to create a place where nothing is certain. Things that maybe plants, fungi, or even bacteria, reach from the top to the bottom, from corners and centre and out to the edges. Resonances, that may or may not be familiar, encompass the gallery. In, round or through the work in the exhibition, individual sounds play quietly amongst the sculptures creating micro worlds. The temporality of the listening process, its fragility, is enhanced by the contrasting solidity of the sculptures which threaten to invade the space.

Our aims are to stimulate discussion about sustainability, biodiversity and ecology, which arises through the materials and processes involved in the production of the work. It also looks at how the possibilities of sculpture and sound reinforce each other in the context of ecological issues. We welcome all viewpoints and present an invitation to enter the conversation in English or German.

Rusert and Wright began their collaboration during an artist exchange in 2024 in Germany, with Artcore Gallery, Derby and Osnabrück-based hase29, m82 studios and skulptur-galerie. The two artists continue to expand their work together alongside their individual practices and work to intensify the links between the two countries. This exhibition is possible thanks to the generosity of Broadway’s Near Now and continuing support of Artcore Gallery.

It is only day 3 of making so still have 9 days to make an exhibition. The aim is to finish on Thursday 3rd and have the last two days as exhibition only. Whether it works out like that is a matter of conjecture. The gallery seems to grow in size and we need more and more material. My hands are sore and cut from the wires and Margit’s arm and back are aching due to drawing. It is extremely hot which makes us a little tetchy. The gallery has huge windows so there is no escape from the heat. Kept going by cake and coffee.

Day 8 Tuesday June 24th

Just getting on with it and adjusting to the limitations of the gallery. It is not very easy to create work that stands off the walls as fixing to the ceiling, for example, is difficult with the heavy weights of knotted cables. My plan is to finish the sculptures this week and focus on the sound next week. A couple of tests have been made for feasibility. Margit aims to finish the drawings by Tuesday and so add to the sculptures. I was hoping to create new sounds but I realised that part of my existing sound library plus recent additions were just right. Speaker charging ready for the trials.

Margit almost completed drawing number 2 and I untangled the tangles in the wire. More cable arrived today but the heap is reducing fast. A long working day 10 to 7. Visitors have been welcomed and conversations had about the materials which, at first glance, appear to be odd and unlikely; the process –the stripping and manipulation of the wire is a painful procedure; the theme of mutation, sustainability, climate change and the future of plant life. With regard to our aims to make a sustainable exhibition, we are travelling by bus and bike and bus most days which makes for longer days.

Today’s guest artist, Tim Baker, made micro-worlds of leaves, plants and insects.

Now I have begun thinking about the theme of our residency - biodiversity, ecology, plant mutation, sustainability – I have been reading and researching for weeks and have created a small library for the gallery. The aim is to provide inspiration and to stimulate discussion. The books, all second-hand, include Richard Mabey’s Weeds and The Cabaret of Plants, David Attenborough’s Life on Earth, Melvin Sheldrake’s The Entangled Life, Gareth Lovett Jones and Mabey’s The Wildwood as well as various guides to wildflowers, fungi etc. The creation of root-like or mycelium structures makes me think about how the world would be without human interference. As humans, we require such a lot to carry out a basic life!

Day 9 Wednesday June 25th

Another ‘getting on with it’ day. Placed the guest artists work with their names in suitable places. Now one drawing is complete and hung, the gallery is changing shape, nooks and crannies have been created that lend themselves to snaking plants that creep up the walls and that resemble a little the drawings. The question has arisen – are they not just wires? They have begun to take forms, that may be plant-like, algae-like or fungi-like but have a life beyond those categories. Do they belong to the sea, the earth or the air?

Day 10 Thursday June 26th

An almost a ‘too hot to work’ day with the gallery windows focusing the sun. Suncream inside! First job each day seems to be fixing what has fallen down overnight. With the first and, by the end of the day, the second drawing installed, it is beginning to look and feel like an exhibition. Tree roots creep from the railings, knotted ‘nests’ are intertwined with bunches of mycelium-like fronds, small fungi type ‘things’ sprout from corners. We might run out of wire! So far, good progress has been made.

Today’s guest artist, Connie Burley, made paintings/drawings on plastic sheet referencing mutated flowers. She had already researched the theme and had some fascinating, and scary, information. Her work was pinned to the door creating reflective layers.

Trialling the sounds which will go inside the nests using small portable speakers.

Day 11 Friday June 27th

The evening was spent at a preview at Artcore for two German artists that are here for a residency. How different artists carry out residencies is illuminating, and it is useful to think in detail about how to improve things. Margit and I were very lucky to have been able to extend our project like this.

Day 12 Saturday June 28th

12 noon opening today for us. More fixing! Dinner with Zahir and Ruchita at their house with lots of art conversation and good food.

Day 13 Sunday June 29th

A day away from the gallery and we went into Derbyshire and up to the moors. It gave me a lot of inspiration. The fresh air away from the city was valuable. It is good to have this balance away from the intensity of the residency.

Day 14 Monday June 30th

Feel enthusiastic after yesterday’s trip but realise that we are both tired and a little out of sorts. There are a few tensions but that is understandable as it has been a very ambitious project and we now only have a few days left. Margit finished her drawing today and hung them although they were difficult to fix. The weather is still very hot.

Day 11 Tuesday July 1st

Marcia Porto, a Brazilian artist, was guest today and she drew on some spare plastic that Margit had, using monstera leaves which are common in Brazil. Realise Margit and I are a little tense with each other and have some difficulty with language and understanding. It is hard to be forthright when there is a danger of misinterpreting. Had to apologise for my grumpiness today! Although I have spent a lot of time learning German, and Margit speaks good English, I am very unconfident as I have now reached a deep grammar stage and do not understand things like word order and parsing. It has made me afraid to speak!

Day 12 Wednesday July 2nd

A shorter day so that we could go to Dubrek Studios and see a Jazz Jam with Tim Baker. Mary Hayes was the last guest artist today and she stayed most of the day creating prints and using wire as print-making material.

Working on the sound pieces and decided to use 4 pieces not 5 so there was space for the sounds to be heard individually. This is not quite how I originally envisaged it but it is better this way.

Day 13 Thursday July 3rd

Margit decided to make a big sculpture with the wire that we had left.

Our exhibition is announced on the notice board in Broadway.

Mary returned to finish off her prints. Print-making is a very long process! We have hung the guest artists’ work with their names having advertised them in the gallery window.

Things are sprouting. It is almost finished. It is looking a little bit like a jungle and am hoping it doesn’t just look a mess. It is always hard to know when to stop. I was initially wary of Margit bringing the plastic sheet but, in the end, it provided a good backdrop and little nooks and crannies for wire and structures to hide in.

The continual discussions were an important part of the process of making even though they weren’t always comfortable. I am sure that there were things that Margit didn’t like that I made and maybe she would have been happier with a different material. With proper funding, we would probably not have used the cables. We made the very best of what was available in terms of materials, time and space.

The sounds are inserted into their nests. It is very hard to get the balance right especially when we have visitors. Just doing my best!

Offshoot sounds 2

Day 14 Friday July 4th

The wire is all one piece, connecting everything together, even the plastic. This is important as to how I am thinking about the world, we are all one. No person or living thing is isolated.

Big day today with the first day of exhibition and event this evening. Quite relaxed although we are not quite ready. Forgot we needed to tidy up for 12. Zahir, Ruchita and Vinod, an Indian clay artist who has been resident at Artcore for a month, arrived just after 2pm bearing flowers which was lovely and added the sense of smell to the gallery. It became quite a lively occasion with people coming in off the street as well. Lee came down and met Zahir and Ruchita for the first time. It was good for us to have to explain the work, to have to say it out loud in the context of exhibition rather than as a residency and in progress.
For the evening, I bought an embroidered tablecloth from the charity shop which fitted in perfectly with the theme. Catering was provided by Near Now, more thanks and the wine helped the conversation to flow with many staying from start to finish until we had to ask people to leave. We needed our sleep! As always, the first moments of an opening are quiet and just when you think no-one is going to arrive, they do. Had a small but happy turn out and as much as fitted in the gallery with the installation.

Day 15 Saturday July 5th

Arrived just before noon. Visitors and explanations but fairly quiet. Margit’s last day before leaving for the bus at 4pm.

Took all the work down and cleaned the gallery with help from my partner, thanks Mik. Some stuff went to my Surface studio, other in the car for recycling or taking home. Amazingly, it only took two hours and with the car parked in the Broadway space, it was quite easy. Very tired however.

Day 16 Monday July 7th

Recycled all the wire at www.completewasters.co.uk in Sileby. Began the ongoing admin. such as thanks to Lee and Zahir and completing blogs etc.

Day 17 Tuesday July 8th

Now the evaluation begins. I think that we needed better communication both before and during. Or maybe, just better ability to communicate. I need to improve my German and be more confident. We are both strong-minded women and sometimes, it was challenging. However, we are also able to listen and compromise and work things out. Margit said at one point ‘doing an exhibition is an easy way to lose a best friend’. Our ability to make an exhibition in a short time was proven. We responded, we worked hard and I believe it was successful. The aim was to create a conversation about the theme of diversity, ecology, sustainability, climate change as well as the process of art-making and exploring how sound enhance sculpture and vice versa.

In my opinion, the sound made the exhibition come alive. It provided several points of listening contact as well as an overall sound. It was not envisaged that I would be doing so much of the sculpture, my focus would be sound and I wanted to record in the city. However, this didn’t work out. The wire was difficult to work with but, for me, it proved an interesting material and brought out new connections with the natural world which aligned with the material as a necessary component of modern living.

There have been a lot of valuable insights that don’t necessarily relate to our residency but to previous residencies and to the idea of residencies in themselves.

Firstly, the importance of choosing the right artists, although this obviously cannot be guaranteed. This includes artists working in a medium that can be accommodated in the host space. Also the artists’ approach. They must have a curiosity and approach it with an open mind. They must be highly motivated and willing to be self-determined which means not regarding it as a holiday but as work. Working in a different country and language necessitates a period of adjustment and ideally at least a day with hosts to orientate them. There should also be extra time to recover from travelling. A firm plan of what happens when and where including timings needs to be shared in print or email so there is no ambiguity or last minute surprises. The ‘home’ artist must be prepared to do the majority of the administration.

It has been particularly valuable to write this evaluation, which will be public, to have left it a while before posting it. Whilst I will continue to have lots of thoughts about biodiversity and sustainability, I feel that we carried out our residency to the best of our ability and with integrity. Thanks Margit!

Germany residency

December 10, 2024

Summer 2024

It’s a long story! I was invited to take part in a residency in Osnabrück last May/June by Artcore Gallery, Derby (https://artcoreuk.com). As part of my practice, I engage in what I call poetic mapping. This is exploring the hapticity of a space. During the residency, I began to make strange, stringed instruments. On a day of wandering through the city, I noticed a brush with a very bent stale leaning against a fence outside the Felix Nussbaum Museum. This would have made a perfect support for a guitar string. I searched for the owner not knowing that it was part of the local tradition to leave unwanted items in the street to be taken if needed. By the time I returned, the brush had gone. Knowing how ridiculous it all sounded, I took along a German artist to ‘interrogate’ the museum, I talked to the gardeners but to no avail. I accepted I had missed the opportunity.

November 2024

I return to Osnabrück to meet with artist, Margit Rusert (https://margit-rusert.de) who hosted the residency in her studio, and see her fabulous retrospective exhibition Mash-Up. We had discussed collaborating in the summer and this was a visit to see how we could make it work. She co-runs a gallery (https://skulptur-galerie.de) in Osnabrück and last week, a brush handle had turned up at the gallery, it was the same one, a little bit weathered and no brush.

Amazing coincidence and timing. Next, I will return to play some ‘music’ using the Felix Nussbaum Stringed Brush using with pre-owned strings which have in the past been given to me by a guitar shop in Derby (https://fouldsguitars.com) from their scrap metal box. Not forgetting Rainer who deliberately changed his guitar strings for me. Thanks everyone for their support.

This visit has consolidated two collaborations of which more later. It is going to be an exciting year in 2025.

Pragmatism And Plantagrams August 2024

August 8, 2024

There are so many things to do! Stopped fretting about not making stuff and just done what I could which has been a series of Plantagrams, posted on Instagram, where a photo a day observes the patch of land near the River Soar in Leicestershire. The plan is to post all the plants that are there. These have been increasing now that the huge nettle, dock and thistle plantation has been reduced this allowing some light and other species to flourish.

The exhibition, See Hear, is up and running. The artist talk is tomorrow and still needs writing and although I am not going to read it, I need to have some pointers in my head. There is a two day workshop next week where I am doing an experimental sound day followed by Ashley Morris’ film day. I have been trying to fit in exhibition visits and other informative events such as three great days at In the Field conference with Crisap and have follow-ups to do. Also Sonic Sculptures at Near Now, Broadway, Nottingham where sound artists were able to present their work for critique. This was the last in a series of events run by nojobsinthearts in conjunction with Near Now. So, lots of new knowledge and new friends who I am enjoying following their navigations through the complex artist channels. In Osnabrück, I was delighted to work with Margit Rusert (https://margit-rusert.de and https://skulptur-galerie.de/artistaustausch/) and hope we will have a future fruitful artist collaboration.

Building Bridges June 2024

June 5, 2024

I continue to pursue my aims of the Quiet Residency which I hope will become a way of life. Slipping these ideals into Building Bridges, a residency that I currently doing with Artcore Gallery in Derby and Osnabrück, Germany is a little more challenging. Deadlines create their own agenda and having only two weeks to gather work for an exhibition in July that also links with Derby takes time especially with a request to present new work at the open studios this Saturday. Of course, I am really happy to do it and I am nearly ready. I am enjoying the challenge! Luckily, I have done enough residencies to have a routine to get me started and I have been slow running every morning except today ( I stayed up very late to edit the sound tracks for the weekend and then couldn’t sleep) which also contributes to an essay I am writing for RAN publication later this year. I documented my journey here by train by drawing and recording and later added text which is the basis for the work on Saturday. I have collected water samples and am testing them - all things I usually do. Now, I am having some time off (for good behaviour) this morning and tomorrow afternoon when I am meeting a friend from the FKL sound conferences.

A quiet residency.. continued

May 26, 2024

I am observing and listening as my first steps. Looking outside the space that I live by, there are so many changes. The docks have all been eaten by tiny beetles like oil drops, the nettles are growing strongly and the bracket fungi are doing well. The reeds and reed mace are now a few feet high. Since cutting down a lot of the docks, nettles and thistles, whilst still leaving several dense patches of them, there has been an increase in flowers and other wild plants. This state of observation, noticing, paying attention, has been part of my art practice for a very long time, particularly in relation to my sound practice. The states of listening and hearing are a constant see-saw of noticing and not-noticing. Putting this into practice in this tiny space where the bird sound is a constant, it only becomes noticeable when something different happens.

The idea of the quiet residency has become a gentle meander through ideas, thoughts and small interventions. However, I have been offered a residency and exhibition in Derby and Osnabrück and want to continue with these ideas but also need to produce work for the exhibition. The ‘gathering’ stage of the residency in Germany will begin with my known ways of working, slow running and recording sound, water collecting and testing and drawing along the journey which will be done by train. From there, it is a wonderful unknown.

A Quiet Residency - trying to find a new approach

May 6, 2024

I have been thinking a lot and this text How can I make art…with all this going on? sums everything up. Understanding the how’s and why’s and, even, the what’s of the way that one makes work sometimes gets really muddled. But now, I am beginning to see a way through. There is still the awful, heavy weight of world woes, mostly of our own making, but I am getting a perspective.

Creating mind maps always works for me. This one is A1 and gives me lots of opportunity to fill in spaces as I go along. The answer that I have come up with is to create a self-directed, mainly home-based residency, The Quiet Residency. Developing a fluid plan –

1. It includes the fact that I am only 6 months into my plan to not make new work for a year. This was part of a way to not add things to the world, to use what I have and develop work that is already in the world in some state or other.

2. To think of my creativity as inclusive of music, writing etc. not limit my output. To have thinking as a major activity.

3. To try and do 12 projects, one a month.

4. Slowly, quietly,

5. To begin yesterday (that sounds relevant In an odd way) by kicking off with a live recording for Reveil of early morning sounds for their broadcast. So the residency (not sure it should be called that) began at 04.44 precisely on Sunday May 5th, 2024.

Sunday May 5th 2024

Today is the day for the live broadcast for www.soundtent.org and their Reveil project timed to coincide with International Dawn Chorus day. Reveil is a 24hour series of early morning sounds that begin in the UK and travel westwards before returning to the UK. It will be archived at www.soundtent.org/reveil. Not wanting to be the one who messed up, I set the alarm for 3.45am and after coffee, went outside and set up the equipment. Perching on the jetty by the side of the boat, my home, I fumbled in the dark trying to locate the slot for the lead, desperately trying not to drop anything in the river. I put the Zoom on a tripod so it wouldn’t pick up any sounds from the jetty itself which is wooden and creaks a lot. This also meant I couldn’t fidget which I do a lot. Using the XY mic form the Zoom and a parabolic dish in input 1 with its own mic, I streamed it through my Android phone. Timed to begin somewhere between 04.44 and 05.23, I sat and watched the light creep in. At one point, a tiny white feather floated down from the tree above and into the river. Around 5am, there was much more bird movement but also traffic and planes.

The time before sunrise is called civil twilight, when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon. Before this, there is astronomical twilight followed by nautical twilight. This is all new to me and researched it on timeanddate.com, a really informative website.

Monday May 6th, 2024

Further listening to bird sounds sent to me by Louisa Chase, a lovely and fantastic artist working with the natural environment. She recorded nightingales at Knowlands Wood near Barcombe, East Sussex as part of her Arts Council funding. The patch of ground near my boat is covered in docks, thistles and nettles, which while they have merits in themselves, are not very good for walking around barefoot. My solution is to keep cutting them down until they get tired and give up whilst leaving some areas untouched. I have also planted some marsh marigolds, hemp agrimony and yellow flag near the water mint to try and encourage a natural environment. There were quite a few small round beetles that looked like a drop of oil, not sure of their name maybe mint beetles although I think they are mostly found in the south of England. Very eye-catching though.

The next few days I will be working so will have to store up my thoughts but hope to keep on working on this drawing which began as an illustration of art practice, its one continuous line that winds, twists, flows and is rarely linear.

THINKING SPACE APRIL 11TH, 2024

April 9, 2024

It was so busy last year, I realise that, after clearing out so much artwork, the spring cleaning, I now need some space just to think. I have filled yet another notebook with thoughts and ideas, some of which are proving useful. There are a couple of things which I really want to progress with and have been writing proposals for but, otherwise, I feel that this time of mental nomadism is really worthwhile.

Spring Cleaning February 29th, 2024

February 29, 2024

Clearing out old blog sites, working through all that stuff on the computer that is slowing things down and is very obviously no longer needed, throwing out old artwork and drawings that I am paying to store, labelling all my sound recordings correctly, downloading from my phone, numerous SD cards and maybe, even, reducing the 80 odd identical black journals. (Not sure about this last one!)

Then I hope to re-energise my whole practice. It is bogged down. And bogged is the word for my current very watery situation. Just spent a week in Normandy meeting the artists from last year's collaboration and it rained every day except coming home day. It was a week for growing thoughts rather than producing work although I did a little bit of sound recording.

Having ended Hatchery Artists last year, I still have to sort through certain things. It was great while it lasted but now I want to concentrate on my own practice. I decided on October 11th, 2023 that I would make no new work for a year but develop things I had already 'finished'. Prompted, of course, by my throwing out sessions, it has been a good evaluation.

Looking forward when now I have finished looking back, I am applying for residencies and exhibitions with the new approach.

January 17th, 2024

January 17, 2024

Time for an evaluation, a review of the past couple of years rather than blindly going forward. 2022 was the year I took time out from the everyday to embark on a narrowboat journey as a self-directed residency. Although cut short for a family emergency, it yielded so many ideas. 2023 was the year of residencies, firstly Lode, a solo project, followed by Traversée, both at Broadway Gallery, Nottingham where the support of Near Now was crucial. The Traversée residencies were a collaboration with Hatchery Artists and Le Labo des Arts, Caen, France - Le Labo provided much support. Traversée2 took place in Caen with an exhibition at Saint Nicolas and Traversée3 followed again in Nottingham at Broadway Gallery. The cultural exchange enriched horizons in many ways and I am hoping for more exchanges.

April 7th, 2023

April 7, 2023

Lode residency

March 12th, 2023

March 22, 2023

Lode

Watery Ways/Bleak Place - February 27th, 2023

February 27, 2023

A lot of thinking has been done over the past year and now I am lucky enough to be able to develop this work in the Broadway Gallery, Nottingham thanks to the kind support of the Near Now studio. This will take place form April 1st to April 16th, 2023. My plan is to take all my material there and see it all in one place. It is currently boxed up. The priority is water and pollution - the Watery Ways part of the residency - but The Forgotten is the culmination of Bleak Place. Whilst it will only be open on application, I am planning two open days with one having a focus on water from a wide variety of viewpoints with invited guests.

Watery Ways/Bleak Place

January 2, 2023

This was my summer, self-directed residency for which I used a Wordpress blog site. https://chriswright.wordpress.com/2022/05/07/watery-ways-bleak-place/

Images can also be seen in the gallery here.

On May 7th, 2022, I wrote

‘This is a self-directed and unfunded residency. My intention is to spend three months on England’s waterways, travelling by narrowboat. It will be a testing space that will inform the development of new work through expanded use of materials with a focus on the waterways environs. Embodied within the potential new ways of working are ideas of sustainability, care of self (well-being) & care of the environment.

I began travelling on April 20th, 2022 and headed south on the River Soar and am now on the Grand Union Canal at Cosgrove. Why wait until now to write? The title of this residency includes the words Bleak Place and it is this bleak place that has prevented me from doing much more than keeping a diary and taking pictures. The world is in turmoil and I have been bowed down by it. Yesterday, I walking in the water meadows in search of the Rive Tove. I heard my first cuckoo of the year and began to have a little hope. So whilst I cannot forget everything that is happening, I acknowledge it all and will try to find ways to exist alongside it.’

It is now January, the residency was cut short after 6 weeks due to unavoidable family illness, but I have an enormous amount of work to develop even in that short time. I am now beginning to process that work.

Art Etc. No. 30 Jan 2022

January 3, 2022

Starting the New Year with a Hatchery Artist challenge. 31 pieces of work in 31 days. For me, it is a chance to play with materials and process and gather ideas together for the future. Hatchery Artists, now unfunded but I will apply again later in the year, have gathered two new artists for the challenge so we are now 10, that is 310 new works. These can be seen in the blog at www.hatcheryartists.com

I am also posting on Instagram to try and improve our profile and it is quite a challenge as I don’ t use it much but I understand that I need to engage with social media more. I draw the line at facebook, sorry, meta, though. It has been quite a learning year with all the Hatchery professional development but I have done quite a few courses, the best being the VR day with Kerryn Wise from my NearNow studio. The next course is on Instagram reels in a couple of weeks time.

I am beginning to have a clarity about my practice and its position between social engagement and contemporary art. It is quite another challenge to keep on track when the commissioner doesn’t always appreciate the contemporary art side. Using sound lends itself perfectly to social projects but it tends to be the presentation of those projects which causes problems.

It is interesting that in the first three days of art challenge, I have not included sound. Perhaps it is because it is always raining!