The project emerged from a collection of experiences and conversations Forest shared with friends, family members and strangers about their daily lives off the back of the pandemic (which Forest thought did a great job at rapidly highlighting which industries needed more equity, resources and support). These experiences and conversations have woven the fabric of Forest’s The Mothering Project enquiry.   

“I began to wonder – how and where is it that we begin to learn these types of skills and how do these (care) skills manifest in ourselves as individuals? I realised that the word mother if unhooked briefly from the biological symbolism we in the western world have deeply inherited, then the word mother could offer potential to re-parent ourselves.”  

In partnership with FRAME: a biennial of dance, our residency offers Forest and collaborators the essential ingredients needed to create new work; time, resources, constructive critique and support, and a safe space in which to take risk. Our partner -Bendigo Venues & Events have provided time and resources in the Engine Room Dance Studio – a light filled space in which to explore and experiment, artistically, intellectually and performatively.  

The three collaborating artists – Forest V Kapo, Alison Shirley and Phoebe Robinson are based on Djaara Country in Central Victoria and all have experience in visual disciplines including: design, photography and film, and backgrounds in dance, movement and performance. With these combined skills, Forest feels the work is taking an intriguing first stage form involving filmed elements that are already taking shape. 

Forest said: “The shape of the work itself, for me, is unexpected… I don’t often have a strong sense of what [new works] will look like but I do usually have a sense of the how. This process though is a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, so… I don’t yet have the how. The filming work feels rich but it isn’t familiar, yet there’s a strong sense that it’s an important process and part of the progress required. The edited footage captured thus far is intriguing – I like intrigue as an artist, and as a viewer of art – intrigue keeps me going back to view or read a piece of artwork. The residency will help with uncovering more pieces of the puzzle.” 

When asked about the emerging form that is coming out of the residency Forest commented: 

“The work is starting to get a form. I am finding myself in a strange relationship of getting out of the way. It is like stepping into a dark room and fumbling for the light switch. As much as I wanted it to be something, the collaborative process has demanded that I let things go and sometimes sit in the back seat as my collaborators take the lead. I’m consenting to a ‘not knowing’, and to others taking the lead.” 

Audience responses are crucial at this first stage of their evocative new work. Forest and her collaborators look forward to hearing your feedback and thoughts following their public sharing, which will assist them to gauge and evaluate the various elements critical to their work’s next stage of development. 
 

The post The Mothering Project residency: In Conversation with Forest V Kapo appeared first on Punctum.

When I’m in this mode I am enacting a role or a persona of sorts.  And since the initiation of a long-term project in the form of an ideological initiative of which I am the protagonist and paragon, my art and life practice are becoming increasingly symbiotic.

My Seedpod project brought this to a whole new level, and it has felt like I have taken the leap that was needed, but had been hesitating to take.  It’s amazing what can happen in two weeks, especially with a mentor like Jude Anderson who is astute on finding the crux of her protégé’s concept and prompting a plan to action.  In my two weeks I embarked on a journey of ambitiously connecting with people, inviting them to self-reflect, interact, join a dialogue, and even commit to a membership. 

To do this I had to jump the hurdle of self-doubt and embrace my role as protagonist.  And, being able to ‘get on with it’ has also paved the way for real discipline in my art-life practice.  As First Member of my initiative The League for Human Integrity I have principles to practice through my art, my everyday life, and on a metaphysical level.  I have to make things lots of things happen and inspire a now growing community of individuals who are invested in what the project is striving for.

On reflection now, I think that the dedicated research process that I carried out for each of my projects armed me with the confidence to present works that took bold creative and conceptual leaps.  Through this research I would build a store of material to draw from that allowed my works to have multi-layered meanings and divergent perceptual forms.  Now it is as though all the investigation that went into those projects has fortified a solid platform for Integrity and my role as First Member.  A commitment to research as process has proved to be the most profound impetus in the evolution of my practice to what it is today.

Seedpod was the conduit for this process of realisation, and I thank you Jude for being my protagonist when I needed it most.

The post A Commitment to Process and Life Practice appeared first on Punctum.