During the initial stages of the project when I was exploring various themes and ideas, I felt the most creative and clear when I was alone, walking through the wilds of Dartmoor and the ancient woodlands. I knew it would be an important part of the process to make my final piece in the wild countryside.

In documenting the process, I have come to see the importance of the process and continual experiments, all of which become essential arriving at the final piece. Transforming the objects such as the fallen branch, the brides dress etc by burning which is unpredictable and wild and requires physical input from me, I have felt involved and the fact that I am altering the object myself makes me feel like an active participant in the development the story and the final outcome.

Burning the dresses was not an act of anger of violence but of transformation. The act itself felt peaceful and pure and I noticed that I felt connected to a power greater than myself – Nature, Fire, the moon. I feel this final piece is ultimately not about destruction but about resurrection, reconfiguration and Hope.

MORNING AFTER THE NIGHT BEFORE

Once the dresses and the frame had burned and cooled, the next day I gathered up the rest of the melted burned pieces of dress that were matted into the grass and I also chopped up the frame into pieces.

assembling the final piece

I laid out a selection of the different components on a sheet of paper so I could start considering how I might assemble them into my final piece.

Looking at all the bits I had laid out in a line, it struck me how I default to uniformity which gives me a sense of structure and order which feels familiar and safe but there is a part of me than wants disorder and spontaneity.

I selected some small grass shoots and some wild flowers growing in the hedgerows and I carefully teased them out by the root. I then molded some compost around the root and planted them in my collection of burnt wood, dress and rope.