I search for strategies that allow creative work, in the form of walks, paintings, performance, sculpture and installation to take place within the context of “the Anthropocene”. I acknowledge feelings of anxiety and helplessness but also recognise the ability to engage and act within it.
The physical and metaphorical act of walking is employed as a mechanism and/or passageway into deep thought and contemplation. Rather than walking toward apparent manifestations of human production for example urban infrastructure and digital engineering my decision is to walk away from those influences where possible. I am not under the illusion that I am walking out of the Anthropocene; by entering a place that is less obviously recognised as altered by humans, I am walking more deeply into it. I begin to recognise the effect of human activity on less visible yet more profound elements; air, water, vegetation and geology. Different human inscriptions are brought into relief as I walk, for instance the effects of a drought or a trodden down track. I respond with some sense of agency by finding a specific detail that keeps my communication alive for example, a bone or stick that is transformed into an artwork back in the studio. Sensation and memory are explored more specifically in my paintings.
