Research Week: Talk/Presentation: The Enspirited Landscape

Description

“The best things in life are free.” This was conveyed to me by a Great Aunt (a retired Head teacher) when I was a lad. It has resonated through my life, particularly via my connection to the Natural World e.g. passion for astronomy (observing the Andromeda galaxy), or immersing myself amid nature through past-times such as fishing, walking and wilderness camping. For me, Nature is a Green Tonic, a counter balance to the frenetic whirligig world of modern society.

The seed of my research area was cultivated by my late Great Aunt’s extensive knowledge of botany, folk tales, Celtic myths and nature poetry. Family walks were an education – a portal to ancient British culture and folk lore.

Both as a qualified Yoga and Meditation teacher (British Wheel of Yoga – 2008) and as an aspiring Druid (Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids) I have had the opportunity to deepen my sensitivity to the natural world. This talk explores the concept of the ‘Enspirited Landscape’, where liminal times (dawn and dusk) and liminal spaces (edges of territory) become portals to deepen the connection with nature. Where the everyday becomes enchanted with a sense of wonder and awe. I shall discuss how certain practices help us form an enhanced relationship with the ‘Genius loci’ – the pervading spirit of place. Through such techniques the practitioner is informed by direct experience, the process is a total immersion. One becomes hyper-sensitized to the rhythms, patterns and currents of energy that proliferate the natural world.

My creative practice and research interest is therefore to visualize and celebrate such phenomena through the production of mixed media printmaking artworks (which utilise a range of methods from screen-printing, collographs, monoprints and digital processes). The hand-rendered visual elements are synthesized from a diverse range of sources: from cosmology, Celtic myth, totem animals, bird flight, under-water plant forms, rock formations, found objects and folk motifs.

Period	12 Nov 2018
Event title	Research Week: School of Art. University of Brighton
Event type	Other
Degree of Recognition	Local