I come from a research-based visual arts background in which I have focussed upon place, space, trespass and ownership, the politics of place and the relationship between place and people. While continuing my visual and walking art practice, I have become increasingly engaged in writing and academic public speaking.
My visual work often draws from walking research and considers the human connection with land, walking art and storytelling. Walking work is often undertaken with public or community groups (walking and mapping projects with women’s shelters, mental health organisations, homelessness groups and festivals). I am a landscape photographer and have accidentally become an online “influencer”, particularly on Instagram; a term I really dislike but a role that allows me to talk about walking, land politics, and human connection, online. I was a judge for the ADC industry awards for New York Creative Week, in 2018 and have published chapters that consider walking theory, walking as a woman who experiences disability and walking as a methodology.
I spend much of my spare time walking hills and mountains, particularly in Cumbria, Derbyshire and the Pennines. I’m interested in distance walking, particularly on canal routes and with their historical and cultural contexts in mind. Much of this recreational walking also informs visual and written research.
At the time of writing, I'm about to begin as a Ph.D. candidate at the centre for Place Writing, Manchester and my thesis will encompas walking, land, space and human connection/intervention in the valley of Mardale.
