Hedgerow Conversations
work shown at ArtdepotNR3
‘Incidental Collaborations’ exhibition,
St. Margaret’s Church, Norwich June 2025
Hedgerows:
carbon storers pollinator supporters wildlife corridors habitat providers shade purveyors water flow delayers
A hedgerow growing, reaching up, vibrant with catkins and then flailed, left exposed and ripped apart.
Reflections on failure and fear and the ways we manage that.
Can dialogue with this hedgerow reveal ways we can nourish and flourish our relationship with the natural world and ourselves?
Materials were foraged responsibly from the hedge, and its surroundings, to make pigments, paints and printing ink to create work
On the Verge I
FLAILING
Flailing: to beat, flog, wave, swing wildly
Old English ‘fligel’ based on the Latin ‘flagellum’ meaning ‘whip’
Is it no coincidence that you remove one letter and flail becomes fail?
Is failure not the fear of an artist, of a creative or a human being?
‘The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.’
Sylvia Plath
How often do we flail ourselves when we fail? But what purpose does it serve?
On the Verge II
‘We grow much more spiritually by doing life wrong than by doing it right.’ Richard Rohr
Flailing apart
‘There is no innovation and creativity without failure.’ Brené Brown
Magdelena (strong tower)
Vestiges I
Vestiges II
Vestiges III & IV
After Flailing: beauty in the remnants (back)
See of Leaves (front)
Am I just old wood that can’t sustain itself, growing gaps that can't be filled?
Gently remove that which does not serve you.
Lay new growth in those holes that have arisen.
Plant new habits that encourage variety and life.
Extracts from beyond scourging, whisper gently