Self Portrait with Two Snails (2020)
Single channel HD, colour with sound, Aspect Ratio 16×9, Duration 3’2” Dimensions Variable

 

 

Self Portrait with Two Snails (still)

 

Self Portrait with Two Snails at Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, 2021

 

Self Portrait with Two Snails at Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 2022

 

Self Portrait with Two Snails at The Centre for British Photography, London, 2023

 

During the Covid-19 lockdown of 2020 my perception of time became distorted. Days dragged on while weeks flew by. A crippling combination of anxiety, claustrophobia and fear affected me for the first time. The knowledge that the whole world was suffering added to the doom. As an artist, I usually work through difficulties by making work. But home-schooling my children, and keeping my family’s physical and mental health on an even keel required all my energy. My own work, which in normal times kept me grounded, became impossible. My creative energy was diverted into the domestic sphere. I planted seeds and grew food. My brain started to quiet and I observed the little things that I normally have no time for. I watched snails in the garden. I made a comfortable glass space filled with vegetables and water for them so that I could make a more detailed study. I was inspired by the snails to live in the moment. I forced myself to breathe deeply. To slow down. To be still. This film Self Portrait with Two Snails, depicts my full submission, without resistance or friction to this new dynamic.