ob•serve is a body of work I have developed based on an artists residency I undertook in at Skokholm Island, Bird Observatory off the Pembrokeshire Coast.
I spent six weeks on Skokholm Island spread over six months during the bird migration and breeding season. On the island I was working alongside the wardens and other scientists and creating a new body of work inspired by observation as the basis of scientific and artistic research. I have been studying the methodologies and rigour of scientific investigation and exploring how these systems of observation and effect could inform and shape the development of my practice within the field of art/science collaboration and the wider context of contemporary art practice.
Following on from my time on the island and as part of this residency, I was Artist in Residence at Oriel y Parc, the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park’s flagship gallery and visitor centre in St Davids. In the studio at Oriel y Parc I drew together the threads of my research, based on my island sketchbooks. This work was exhibited at Oriel y Parc in St Davids, Pembrokeshire in July and August 2016.
I am extremely grateful to the Arts Council of Wales for their financial backing and for in-kind support from the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, Pembrokeshire County Council, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and Dale Sailing Company, without which it would not be possible for me to develop this new work.