About us
I am a multimedia artist, performance maker, designer, and educator supported by the Arts Council England.
My artistic work and research are interlinked, focusing on life stories and new ways of creating meaningful and visceral narrative experiences with and for the public; on stage, for museums, galleries, and archives, for screens, speakers, cross-reality technologies, and for reading.
To You, my artwork that was featured on the BBC, is an award-winning intimate reading experience hidden in the pages of an apparently unreadable book. In it are evocative love letters that were never sent, which are addressed To You, the reader. The letters are poetry written in prose, contemplating the mysteries of human relationships, love, attachment, loss, and affection.
It is not like any other book! It seeks the reader's effort, care, and affection to be read. Imbued with warmth from your gentle touch, its black pages gradually become translucent. The writing becomes visible, and traces of your fingerprints are left on its pages. Unlike many reading experiences, this book responds to your body heat by inviting you to lovingly caress it.
To You has been awarded for its subversive design, and was shortlisted for the prestigious Interaction Award at Communication Arts. To You has been purchased by individual collectors around the globe. It is housed in some of Europe’s oldest libraries, and Universities in the USA. Designed as a concertina that engages its readers physically, this unique book is a special edition, with only a limited number of books handcrafted and sold worldwide; 150 to be precise.
With this project, I've chosen to proudly support Cruse Bereavement Care. Over the last 12 years, my journey has had many lows, many great losses. Some days I was able to troop on. On other days my mind and body felt so heavy that it became difficult to get out of bed. Doing the most simple and mundane chores felt like I was rolling a huge boulder up a hill. I knew what was going on. I was grieving, and I allowed myself space to do so. But it was so difficult to achieve this on my own, to control my mood, my thoughts, to accept, and to perform everyday 'normality'. The bereavement workers at Cruse and their group sessions really helped me get back on my feet. Gradually supporting me build up the foundations that allowed me to grieve. Grief is not linear, and it spirals. There is no one-way to grieving, neither is there a "correct" way. No matter how much is individually, culturally, and socially understood about the "word", community and diverse support systems are integral to the process; because it is a process, which one learns to live with.
Because of my personal experience, I am aware of the tremendous amount of support Cruse offers on a daily basis. Especially now due to the pandemic, and since the way in which we are expected to grieve has had to change to suit safety measures, and so, the need for support has deeply increased.
With all this in mind, I'm happy to support Cruse Bereavement Care through the online sales of my rare artists' book, To You, via the website (www.to-you.live). I'll be donating 15% of each book sale (excl. packing and postage costs) to Cruse Bereavement Care. I hope that my contribution, even though small, may lead to helping out a person, or two, who may be struggling to cope with their own grief.
