Early in 2023, I applied for an artist residency in Hydra, Greece. I was burnt out and confused about where my career was going next and I was growing tired of my photography, I didn’t feel connected to it anymore. I had so much in my head that I didn’t feel had anywhere to go.
A month later I woke up, half asleep, ready to turn my alarm on snooze but saw an email - I’d been accepted. I placed my phone on my bedside and lay back down on my pillow, I realised I was being given an opportunity to finally push myself, to discover more about my art practice and who I was in relation to the work I created.
That month I lived on Hydra was expansive. I spent it alongside an incredible group of women, all in different art disciplines, and we became dear friends and colleagues. I was drawing, painting, and writing again. I took photos but that wasn’t where my inspiration reignited, I realised my art practice is centred around language and emotion, that is where my core is. When I had this revelation, everything flowed and made sense again. I filled pages with words, I took photos and the process felt new. I delved into collaging again after years away from it, and I learnt that my photography could be used in other ways and that I didn’t need to force it. My life experiences, emotions and relationship to others drove my creativity, so I welcomed it, in whatever form it came in, no matter how often it arised.
A month later I woke up, half asleep, ready to turn my alarm on snooze but saw an email - I’d been accepted. I placed my phone on my bedside and lay back down on my pillow, I realised I was being given an opportunity to finally push myself, to discover more about my art practice and who I was in relation to the work I created.
That month I lived on Hydra was expansive. I spent it alongside an incredible group of women, all in different art disciplines, and we became dear friends and colleagues. I was drawing, painting, and writing again. I took photos but that wasn’t where my inspiration reignited, I realised my art practice is centred around language and emotion, that is where my core is. When I had this revelation, everything flowed and made sense again. I filled pages with words, I took photos and the process felt new. I delved into collaging again after years away from it, and I learnt that my photography could be used in other ways and that I didn’t need to force it. My life experiences, emotions and relationship to others drove my creativity, so I welcomed it, in whatever form it came in, no matter how often it arised.
