Linnéa Duckworth

This residency was an opportunity to spend some time within a beautiful rural setting and explore some ideas for new projects. I wasn’t too sure what to expect and had only vague ideas of what I might focus on, as I wanted to come with an open mind, to respond to the land, light and feelings I had whilst there. To be truly inspired and immersed by my surroundings.
In the residency I was able to explore my practice in new ways, with a limit on what I could bring, I took out the unnecessary and focused on what was around me. Often with the other artist in residence, Esme, I was seated by the arched windows overlooking the ever-changing estuary framed by the mist-cloaked mountains. Taking in these moments especially in the morning and at dusk to watch the thick wet* reemerge changing the view and atmosphere each moment.

This ephemeral nature holds an affinity with my natural dyeing practice, one which I was eager to explore in this part of Wales. Each day on walks I went prepared to see if I might find some natural material to dye with. With eager eyes I soaked up the local area, walking, thinking and gathering, material as well as thoughts. Picking the evergreen gorse flower (Ulex europaeus), slowly one by one, deepend my appreciation of the flower, its delightful colour, coconut smell and reproachful sting should I try picking more than two blossoms at a time. Its bright sunny yellow was replicated in the small fabric swatches I dyed as well as ink I made.
To be with plants from the picking to the dyeing process is an honour and for my time at the residency I dyed with plants and materials I was surrounded by, choosing carefully so as not to deplete areas of natural wildlife. Working with botanical colour gave me a grounding and a sense of place through familiarising myself with the area of the Mawddach estuary at this season, the cusp of spring.
I derive a lot of joy from the processes of collecting, letting the materials lead the way. Developing a colour palette of my time in Wales these fragments have begun to take shape in different forms, from pleated, stitched
and patched works.

Collecting soft rush became an almost daily ritual and partially collaborative effort between myself and Esme. Both of us were drawn to the plant with its potential to be made into cordage as would previously been done for hundreds of years, learning that their strength, once dried and twisted, was once made into baskets known as kishies. With stripping the soft rush and splitting it into finer strands, the monotonous task becomes natural and second nature, the movement refined over time. Through these processes it gives you a greater appreciation for the material as well as the material objects we have around us which can often be taken for granted. I explored soft rush through cordage, weaving, stitching and net-making.
With the slowness of dyeing from the walking, searching, picking and steeping, I am immersed into a different time where I feel more present, seeing the colours change before my eyes is a very special moment and has a spell-like quality. A watery sense and fluidity is often how my work is formed and like the ephemerality of nature I tried to capture those moments in which we can be in awe of the world around us. Those outer reflections can be felt in our innerselves too, connecting more deeply to our bodies, in a time we are becoming more disembodied from the natural world.

As part of the residency I dedicated some time moving in and around the local area, walking but also dancing. I wanted to embody the experience of a place using improvisation techniques which asked simple yet poignant questions, bringing presence to the movement, developing a conversation between body and land. These movement studies became a memory mark of a place using canvas, clay, ink, charcoal and graphite. I collaborated with the textures of the earth with my movements creating dynamic gestural drawings. These works capture a sense of my expression, movements and feelings of the place. Being led by the materials themselves, I let go of a sense of control, I lean into the unknown.

Whilst at the residency I reflected on my practice my work often varies in style yet there is a familiar thread throughout, I realise I enjoy the careful slow processes which come from the textile craft as well as the expressive and chaotic movement works which are visualised differently. My time at the residency reminded me that we do have nature around us, it is slowing down and noticing that is often overlooked. So on returning to London, where I live, I have been conscious of experiencing my surroundings with a new outlook and as well as continuing to develop the work I began on this magical residency.

*Dense Mist (from Exmoor)

website
instagram