what it is to be there

a site-specific exploration of grief, shame & place

‘An object can be considered a material witness in the context of the intertwined relationship between human and nonhuman testimony.’  Susan Schuppli, Material Witness, 2020.

‘There’ is an area of ground in the Garw Valley, South Wales, next to a coal mine and school, neither of which exist today.

Collaborating with already meaningful materials taken from a rectangle of soil, I felt a kinship in their tendency to ooze, break apart and misbehave. This merging  with the earth and the resulting documentation – traces, objects, installations and filmed engagements –  has given me a bodily understanding of disenfranchised grief and raised new questions about my identity today as a mother without children.  A visual account (Oct 21 – June 24)  can be seen below, and  a selection of exhibited work  here. 

This project has been supported by Arts Council England and the  Brigstow Institute (University of Bristol), enabling me to work with academic researchers to produce a public facing documentWhat it is to be There.

testimonies