Honor
Petrie

'Water swirls, twists, distorts. The smooth black liquid moves quick. Immersing all in its path. It swells and disintegrates with immense weight, crashing and tearing down all in its power. Watching, the mind begins to feel the water’s movements, following its ever changeable patterns. The mind tries to connect as one yet is refused. Each rise and fall reveals the mind’s powerlessness and vulnerability. The surrounding space begins to encircle the body, submerging it. Isolated and disconnected, the mind transforms the water into a torrent, dominating its environment, overwhelming any sense of space, leaving behind a strange and anonymous landscape.'

Water captivates me creatively, my mind is bewitched to its visually powerful appearance. I use water as a metaphor and medium to explore the fragile relationship between human perception and nature. Employing the effects of chromostereopsis with water, my installations present a celestial environment where light, colour and space melt together — a coming together of minds and nature’s elements.

With unlimited access to water living by the coast, as well as brand new and different locations of bodies of water I explore to work with, my practice thrives. I am a snorkelling and canoeing enthusiast living in Scotland. In 2018 I undertook an expedition to the Caledonian Canal and West Coast’s Corryvreckan whirlpool to surround and immerse myself with water. The freedom and ease of heading out into open waters allows me to not only push boundaries of my artwork but also my exploration of revealing how there is no boundary between the mind and nature. Being situated around water would holds my artistic position at a peak.

I plan to expand on my methods of shining raw light onto a surface of water to create a natural projection onto a transportable frame, to enhance the sense of an embodiment of water in a space. I use site specific installations in bodies of water such as a lakes and sea, that could only appear after sunset. From a distance, viewers are drawn in to follow the glowing lights, pulling them closer towards the projections. Using a variety of colours the environment transforms into a chapel-like space. Sensorially, viewers find themselves enlightened as they confront the pieces in the water and gain understanding and sight. The colours float in the water, as its surface reflects yet simultaneously invites reflection as the human mind is absorbed by the hypnotic effects of water. The methods of using the raw elements of water and light to create these illusions truly embody the human mind within water and nature.