Keziah Thomas-Mellor
BA (Hons) Fine Art
As I am lost up Tryfan, following game trails I mistake for pathways as the sun races me back to the ground. I am out of my comforted concrete jungles, out of controlled nature of paved pathways. In the chaos I found a semblance of peace, and as George Monbiot notes a "methodical clearing of the mind", though not achieved through meditation nor at sea, but from facing a 50ft rock face I would have to desperately climb down. Yet, as I scrambl through these 'wild' places, the corners of capitalism jar through as a small, white, plastic coffee lid glimmers through the undergrowt. The marks of our society and ourselves cover the earth.
My practice reflects my own intimate relationships formed from growing up in cities, to accessing our green landscape. The apocal chaos of late capitalism that ravages into every corner of our life, our product-oriented civilisation perpetuating the incessant need to monetise everything, has driven myself like many artists into the solace of nature. I create a moment of escapism for the audience with influences of Taoism echoing through my performance, drawings and objects. I offer respite to myself and the audience.
Collections of intimate drawings on found plastic to ephemereal, performative body-action and mark-making are saturated with my physical and psychological tensions. Speaking to themes relating to our landscape surrounding tresspass, class, gender and the increasing issue of the climate change emergency. Through my bodies experiences in the landscape, like climbing, the idyllic nature is subverte, and the quiet undertones of ownership and belonging are questioned.
In our late capitalist society, duration in this present is a gift and rebellio. All I can do is become grounded in this momen with myself, the audience, and this seemingly infinite present.
