A nurse for the first half of my career, I learnt the value of sitting quietly with people and having a conversation. From this I would often learn about the world from where they were standing. This is where the art is situated in my practice. How to enable strangers to relax enough to say what they really feel. It is an exchange from which I learn about other points of view and participants engage in drawing, learning about earth pigments, drinking tea or whatever suits the situation and topic of conversation. The magic of the art is felt during the interaction (when it is successful) and that ephemeral moment passes into memory and becomes the beginning or end of an idea.
This form of participatory art is called dialogic art. It is not one of the more conventional forms but may bring them in, such as painting, drawing or sculpture.
It is an art to draw people out of themselves, and I do this by appearing to be out of the ordinary, or using a sculpted cart, or mobile art gallery or incorporate different art media, but the art I search for is found in the conversation.
My art practice incorporates interaction and communication with others in a bottom-up approach. In other words, beginning with individuals or community groups as opposed to starting at the top with management. The aim of interaction in the projects is to exchange ideas, and to hear our own spoken view and listen to those of others in an open safe environment. I use art as the means to have a discussion with strangers about an issue or topic that is controversial. The method I develop for each project changes in response to research and is to a degree performative. The reason is to encourage others to be curious and hopefully interact with the project. Hospitality is included where suitable because it is generous and I am grateful to others for taking the time to engage. It also helps to create a space within which conversation flows more naturally. The outcome I seek is that the conversation spreads outwards from the immediate group to create further discussion.
