| Location: | The Salt House in West Bay, Dorset, UK |
| Date(s): | July 2024 |
What I see with my eyes I can translate with my hands (Adam Laity, 2022)
Contextual Statement
This project involves a body of work focusing on the perimeters of land; exploring human responses to coastal landscapes. It is the study of the importance of the sites, sounds and materials of place and our own identity related to well-loved locations that we revisit time and time again. Rather than aiming to create meticulous studies of particular viewpoints or landscapes I aim to represent the fragmented memories and emotions we experience when encountering land, sea and sky; when faced with the beauty of the more-than-human. Returning to the Jurassic coast over a series of months from winter to summer I aim to capture moments in time seen through the lens of my own experience, and fleeting snapshots of the changing seasons of these wild, coastal places.
My methodology sits within the context of artists who have also explored the self in relation to place and/or landscape. More recently I have been influenced by artist Ro Robertson whose practice consists of “crossing back and forth between inner and outer landscapes” with the focus on making “new connections between body and mind and body and environment/landscape.”. Connecting my own mind and body to the coastal places I explore has defined the outcomes of this project as I become more aware of the direct effect I have on the land and vice versa. By being physically present in the landscape and working on the beach, I have examined my own relationship to the more-than-human. By allowing the natural elements to take over and letting go of control as opposed to being removed from the environment in the studio my work has taken on a more dynamic, increasingly textured and immediate appeal.
Artists working directly with the materials of land have had a crucial role to play in influencing this project. Jessica Warboys creates work that involves “the ‘painted’ canvas revealing the action of making and the contingencies of that specific time and place – the wind, waves, rocks and tidal sea-pools that disperse and drag the pigment into the creases and pores of the canvas. The resulting work functions as a record of her collaboration with the landscape.” (Brian Cass, 2017). By increasing my interaction with the materials of land my methods have shifted towards the use of natural elements such as the wind, rain and seawater directly on site. Deciding to introduce bundles of rusted objects wrapped in pigment-infused material, which were then left to be affected by coastal elements and natural materials over a number of weeks shifted the focus more directly to site and an interaction with the more-than-human. By seeking out this collaboration with landscape this project serves as records from particular places and times.
By revisiting the same coastal places repeatedly as well as holding the exhibition at The Salt House in West Bay this project has allowed for deeper connections and collaborations between the geographical location in which the work was made and the humans who inhabit and interact with the location. Joining the local Bridport Art Society who regularly exhibit and hold workshops in the area has allowed for knowledge-sharing between myself and the artists of the local community as well as establishing connections which could benefit my practice beyond the exhibition itself.
Project Documentation
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