Visual Arts and Craft Maker's Award

                                           Element four: fire

I'm grateful to have been granted a Visual Arts and Craft Maker's Award by the city of Aberdeen in association with Creative Scotland. I am working on developing my practice by creating a new body of work around the theme of climate change and looking at topics such as ecofeminism and abstract vs representation in artistic responses to climate action. Most importantly I am interested in exploring how abstract painting can add to the conversation around climate. My starting point for research is Latur & Weibel's book Critical Zones because it shows how some artists are responding to climate change today, and Donna Haraway's Staying with the Trouble because it speaks to EcoFeminism and the inherent connection we have to our socio-environmental ecology. Practically I have started painting the fundamentals of climate, the four elements, focusing in particular on imbalances and separation. This bursary will support my creative practice by giving me new materials to experiment with, inspiring literature and a new pertinent focus for my contemporary art practice. I look forward to sharing my insights as well as the questions that will inevitably arise.