March | 2014 | Natural anarchist

"Homing" in At The Slates Edge exibition, Oriel Ynys Mon, LLangefni 2014

“Homing” in At The Slates Edge exhibition, Oriel Ynys Mon, LLangefni 2014

” Homing ” is a group of nine tower-like structures, in mixed media : Specifically bamboo, cotton, wire and wool, as well as found and natural objects. It is an abstract investigation into the idea of “Home.”

I began this work in response to a call for submissions for a London based project named “Baasher Ghor” ( or Bamboo House ). The call was for artists with a link to Asia, who work with bamboo. As I spent my childhood as an expatriate in Asia, I welcomed the chance to explore this. I took the title literally, and built a tiny bamboo house, on very long legs, in the hope that it could travel back to Asia some day.

“House” with a background of Snowdonia. 2012

It was through making the original house that I began thinking of House and Home in a more conceptual way, and wondering what “Home” actually means to me, as a near perpetual expatriate. I realised, as an English person living in North Wales where a strong Welsh identity and language exist, that I am still an expatriate even now. All of my structures are on long legs, so they can travel. As I worked, I tried to work with the flow of the bamboo, working with it green to allow it to dictate and change the form as it dried. The structures are also informed by the many different dwellings and temples that I have visited throughout South East Asia and the Indian Subcontinent.