Events
“…my time in the alpine village of Frasco sparked a desire to explore the intimate relationship between the human and non-human as a magical space for resistance, stability, and ultimately hope.” – Jess Holdengarde
For the past three years, my research as a lens-based artist has focused on the process and methodologies of my analogue practice. More specifically, I’ve been working on a 12-month funded project, titled The Natural Process (supported by Creative Scotland), which enabled me to deepen & consolidate my interest in sustainable plant-based processes in the context of a climate emergency.
In recent years, I have been lucky enough to work alongside other artists, folkloric foragers and sustainable specialists in their field. I have been simultaneously harvesting & photographing local landscapes and plants across Scotland. This has resulted in an archive of new recipes, sustainably processed negatives, moving image films and silver gelatin prints that have been developed and processed by the subject and landscapes in which they represent. This has been a long journey to create an archive of new refined and tested recipes for sustainable development in the analogue processes in Scotland and more broadly, the UK.
Due to the detailed research and scope of this project, I have started investigating the medicinal properties and folkloric traditions of the plants I have been working with. I have been able to deepen my research into plant-matter at a more cellular and vibrational level which, in turn, has informed exciting new directions in my practice with sound, voice and field recordings.
The Stills & Verzasca Foto Residency has offered such an exciting and interesting shift in my work and I am really grateful to have been given the opportunity to explore, deepen and investigate my research, interests and processes as a sustainable lens-based artist with the support of Stills, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust and Verzasca Foto. For my initial phase of the Verzasca Foto Residency, I combined my above mentioned methods and processes to undergo a site specific period of research and development into the Verzasca Valley in Switzerland.
My time on the residency culminated in a series of sustainable photographic negatives that were processed with plants & river water local to the valley. I had the opportunity to delve into new writings and research as well as spend time recording an archive of sounds taken in and around the mountains that create the valley; all created and inspired by the landscape, the history and community that make up this rural area of Switzerland.
More importantly, my time in the alpine village of Frasco sparked a desire to explore the intimate relationship between the human and non-human as a magical space for resistance, stability, and ultimately hope.
Philosopher Josep Maria Esquirol describes intimate resistance as something which “produces light and warmth to those in its vicinity. It is a light that both illuminates its own path and acts as a beacon to others, guiding without dazzling” (2021:17) Keeping this in mind, I was captivated by the forms and sounds of the large stones that shimmer and glisten in the river. I found inspiration in the connection between my body (and other bodies) to the warmth, stability, and presence of the stones that were embedded in the valley’s landscape. In an attempt to foster a deeper appreciation of our interdependent relationship with the natural world. I used light, time, silver, and local plants to process and develop these images, whilst also collecting field recordings and sound from the spaces in which the stones occupied.
Equipped with this new direction in my work, I will be returning to Switzerland at the end of the month to present my research in a public presentation as part of The Verzasca Foto Festival on the 1st of September 2024 followed by the final week of my research and development in the Verzasca Valley.
I hope that this new research will facilitate and prompt conversations, at a global level, about sustainable processes in analogue practices that can still be significantly improved, consolidated and localized. Thank you to the Verzasca Team & other residents of 2024. It’s been so special to get to know, share and develop work together.
Thank you to Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust for their funding and support as well as the special care that Tilly and Rob have given in creating full access to Wilhelmina’s archives. To Stills for their ongoing support and guidance, to their amazing team and facilities, I’ve loved working with you all.
Special thanks to Cheryl Connell, Ben Harman, Alfio Tommasini, Mhairi Law, Matthew Arthur Williams, Molly M Whawell, Kieran Heather, Virginia Hutchison, CuriosoLab and Melanie King for their guidance and support at various points in this ongoing project.
To read more about our residency partners, Verzasca Foto, click here.
To find out more about our generous residency supporters, Wilhelmena Barns-Graham Trust, click here.