Verb: Swelen – to burn. Middle English.
Swelen, is a three year project, exploring the ancient practice of Swaling. This work was made over two Swaling seasons on the Lizard Peninsula. The next part of the project will start this season on the Penwith Peninsula.
Swaling is a west country term for controlled burning. It is a habitat and land management technique used to clear the old growth and encourage new.
By removing fuel loads and creating fire breaks, it minimises the risk of wild fires.
This seems more pertinent now. Since the beginning of this project we have seen extremes in winter and summer weather, including wildfires.
The artworks are a record of interaction and collaboration, exploring cycles of burning, renewal and connection.
Photographs and co-created drawings, made in direct contact with the charred gorse, invite us to view ourselves, not as separate but as an inherent part of the natural world that will aid a reciprocal relationship with it.
