Collage works on paper (21 x 29.7cm)
2023 - ongoing
Borrowing from Vessel Ban Der Kolk’s ‘The Body Keeps The Score’, a seminal text outlining the affects of trauma upon the body. ‘The Land Keeps The Score’ is a visual enquiry into human / more-than-human realtionships.
“Trauma almost invariably involves not being seen, not being mirrored and not being taken into account.”
In including more-than-human beings in this thinking and acknowledging the trauma that has been inflicted on the land, we can begin to consider how we might collectively heal from over-extraction and exploitation.
“Support is not the same as merely being in the presence of others. The critical issue is reciprocity; being truly heard and seen by those around us, feeling that we are held in someone else’s mind and heart. For our physiology to calm down, heal, and grow, we need a visceral feeling of safety.”
The work speculates on possibilities of re-aligning ourselves with our more-than-human friends, decentering human intelligencies and shifting towards to a more harmonious future.
“Our capacity to destroy one another is matched by our capacity to heal one another. Restoring relationships and community is central to restoring wellbeing.”
