A little bit more about my practice and commitment to environmental sustainability

I start from the point of view of wanting to use my arts practice to help create a more sustainable environment and future. in order for humans to be able to create a sustainable future together, we are going to need to radically shift the way we think about the way we live on this planet. In order to make this shift, we need to alter our ways of thinking and doing; our culture. To get to where we need to be to cope with the ongoing catastrophe that is climate change, we need to be constantly adapting and changing, not staying where we are- because that has got us into this mess. We must imagine other futures and this means thinking in new ways, taking risks, and experimenting- and these things must be made desirable and encouraged from a young age. ‘Great’ art is a potential way of making these new ideas both tangible and attractive. 

Sustainability is at the core of my practice. As an artist, I aspire to make work that is political, challenges societal norms and advocates new ways of seeing and being in the world.  I create works that are imaginative, thoughtful and daring, grounded in a deep concern for our planet’s future, a sense of shared responsibility and fascination for the Everyday. I am passionate about environmental sustainability and want to be part of a movement that shifts our culture toward a more sustainable future. This thread can be seen throughout my work:

•My first play, When Alice Cooper met Prince Harry was created as an attempt to transform everyday objects into something wondrous so that audiences looked again at what they have, and perhaps, in doing so not yearn for the ‘new’. 

•My most recent theatre work Puffin, made together with Snap Elastic theatre (Eszter Marselko and Claire Willoughby), explored uncertainty in the face of climate change.

•I am currently researching a new stream of artistic work, Blue Cow that explores contamination and how our desire to tame our natural environment has dramatically impacted specific communities. 

• During my residency at Sura Medura, Sri Lanka, I chose to focus on the intersection between sustainability and gender, and work with local women and girls. This follows on from an ongoing commitment I have made to tackle, UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

•I worked for three years at the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) Sydney where I supported a wide range of sustainability projects and vastly deepened my knowledge and passion for finding creative ways of solving environmental challenges. While there I created an environmental super hero Captain Eco Pants.

•With Creative Carbon Scotland I have worked on a development of Blue Cow as part of their Culture/shift program and led a creative storytelling workshop about climate change adaptation.

•I have been employed to create a sustainability action plan for Independent Art Projects.

•I regularly attend events focusing on art and sustainability, including Adapt/Modify at the Wellcome Trust and events as part of Creative Carbon Scotland’s Green Tease programme.