Wild Hexagonal Jar Installation & Film (2016) by Heather Waterfield
Almost a year after moving away from home and the Kent countryside or ‘Garden of England’ to live in London for university, I yearned to escape to natural spaces to clear my mind from the stresses of the city life. When visiting the forest I collected natural forms and captured film clips. Branches blowing in the wind, rain splashing a puddle on the forest floor. I projected the series of film clips onto myself, as well as a wall of almost 100 hexagon shaped jars, filled with collected leaves, plants, sticks, moss... Each specimen and jar was illuminated by the projected light, enhancing the beauty of the natural forms, the shifting shapes from the film bouncing off each jar creating spectacular colours and reflections on the walls and in the physical space.
Research says that listening to the sounds of nature creates an outward directed focus of attention, helping us to relax. Our urban, fast-paced lives can be overwhelming, filled with distractions and responsibilities that take time away from being mindful. I wanted to create an immersive experience that demonstrated the deep affinity I have with nature, communicated to the audience that in order to fully understand ourselves and our emotions we need to find ways to feel connected to nature and the earth we inhabit.
The final physical installation was exhibited in a dark space alongside other artist’s works, which allowed the viewer to see, feel and hear nature all around them, creating a meditative experience. It was designed to be a safe space to escape from the busy streets of London and absorb the calming, healing, meditative effects of nature.
The exhibition showed at The Old Truman Brewery, Free Range Shows, Brick Lane, London and Middlesex University in 2016. The video above is an artistic recreation of a physical experience edited in PremierePro.
Wild Experiential Installation 1 (2016). Primordial films and sounds of nature, modelled by Radhika Gohil and Fabiola Sufaj, projected on to Heather Waterfield, inside a wooden frame built by hand by Heather Waterfield, wrapped in black velvet to create a dark, private viewing space in the centre of a brightly lit gallery space.
Face in the Leaves Immersive Installation (2016). Hand-made porcelain leaves, and real leaves suspended from the ceiling, plaster cast of artist’s face with lichen and collected plants mounted onto the wall, work and curation by Heather Waterfield.
Face in the Leaves Installation Idea Sketch (2016). Fine-liner pen sketch on cartridge paper drawn by Heather Waterfield.
Porcelain Leaf & hand on photocopier (2016) Hand-made by pressing leaves into porcelain clay, by Heather Waterfield.
Face in the Leaves Immersive Installation (2016). Hand-made porcelain leaves, and real leaves suspended from the ceiling, plaster cast of artist’s face with lichen and collected plants mounted onto the wall, work and curation by Heather Waterfield.
After I moved away from my childhood home in the countryside, and took up residence in a London flat with no garden. I missed the feeling of being surrounded by nature, so I wanted to create an immersive installation taking inspiration from ‘Biophilic Design’, building a private space that participants could walk into and feel at one with nature.
The word Biophilia became popular when psychologist Edward O Wilson observed how increasing rates of urbanisation were leading to a growing disconnection with the natural world. I began researching Biophilic Design, which comes from the principles that humans have a genetic connection to the natural world that has built up through hundreds of thousands of years of living in agrarian settings. Biophilic Design is used by interior designers like Oliver Heath and Thomas Heatherwick, it aims to improve our health and well-being by centering our working and living spaces around nature.
I collected leaves that had fallen from trees during Autumn. So delicate and ephemeral they were that I wanted to preserve the leaves in a way that would highlight their beauty, shapes and detail. I made imprints into porcelain clay using the fresh leaves, creating perfect porcelain replicas that captured the essence of each leaf, freezing them in time.
This installation aims to dissolve the space between human and nature, the porcelain leaves and the face both stripped of their colour as if made of the same material. The piece addresses the concept that humans are evolved from nature. I use a cast of my own face, disappearing into the wall as if it is halfway between the two world. The aim: to communicate my personal experience and deep connection with the natural world.
Primordial Self-portraits Photo-overlay Series (2016). Photographs by Heather Waterfield, edited in Pixlr App.
