Corner

Cornered was created during my residency at PADA in Portugal, an area that was once a busy industrial zone. As I cycled around in ever increasing circles to explore, I began to notice drifts of tree debris, gathered in temporary holding bays formed by kerbs, doorways and corners. 

A residency is a temporary, fleeting situation, a time when someone is passing through, momentarily held before moving on. It’s a chance to experience a brief season elsewhere, peeling back the layers of looking. I could see that the wind had moved this debris into these temporary spaces and so therefore I could imagine the wind moving it on at some point. Everything is at the whim of the wind. There was an understanding that while the debris is stationary it is secure, but inevitability it can't stay there forever.

The opposite of holding is letting go. Letting go is a difficult concept, bringing up feelings of losing or failing. Yet holding on also brings us pain. The sooner we let go of holding on, the sooner we can open up to the beauty of what's unfolding before us. Nothing is meant to stay the same forever.