Come with Me, 2011

Come with Me, 2011 Come with Me explores the artist’s relationship to the landscape; its role in defining personal identity, and the notion that all perceptions of nature are in some way mediated by our culture. If all natural spaces are utilized, shaped, managed and farmed by man, can we ever access the natural world on its own terms? This series is made in the New Forest. Each piece is constructed within the forest, and the physicality and labour of the making process is an important part of each piece. The introduction of artificial materials to the woodland floor reflects the ‘constructed’ nature of landscape, with particular reference to the long tradition of landscape painting and its role in the creation of meaning and myth making. The pathways are made from materials such as paint, powder, wool and paper which reference traditional craft processes. Each piece follows the most natural line of movement through the space tracing animal paths, the sweep of the eye, or the curve of the land. The process of making is spontaneous and solitary. The colour, shape and material of each pathway draw on and mirror the landscape around it. These pathways delicately and temporarily trace a trajectory through the space, allowing the artist to inscribe and locate herself within the landscape in order to develop a richer personal interaction within the woodland. These trajectories are imposed and over-laid on the landscape, transforming the natural world into an object as well as a photographic image, an inscribed space which questions the stability of ‘nature’ and landscape’ as concepts.