A Body Populated was a solo work addressing the insights of life in lockdown given by 100 women in my immediate community in Nottingham.
I conducted (socially distanced) interviews with the women with whom I had maintained contact during the pandemic. These are people who lived on my street, who I’ve worked with online and the refugees and asylum seekers and mentees I remained close to over many months. I asked these women what has affected them most during lockdown and, in particular, what they have found to be most pertinent in the media.
As a direct result of my observations of statistics in the news, I designed a project that used small uniform ceramic objects to explain data in clear, choreographic language. The women’s interviews informed the themes in the performance: the ceramics expressed the data collected in the research and each woman had a presence in the work.
With support from sound artist Mariam El Sadr I have designed an audio track for the work, following a series of intimate interviews I recorded throughout the summer in the lead up to my first research residency in October 2020.
The sculptural forms pictured below balance on the body, roll, re-configure, explain the stunningly sad stats in simple visuals; all to the soundtrack of the voices of influence; the women interviewed.
Content warning: strong language, suicide and murder, racism, rape, starvation, Trump, climate breakdown, depression and anxiety.
Photography: Flora Lewis-Jones
And special thanks to Louisa Robbin (dramaturg) and to Sandra, Lexcie, Sancha, Micheala Waldram-Jones, Stella, Jo, Shuguftah, Katy, Ritika, Jas Lucas, Angela Warren, Fatima, Lily, Nikoo, Steph, Sharon, Nicola, Amber Cooper-Green, Nels, Ursula, Hannah, Fran & those who wish to remain anonymous.
