SNH ARTIST RESIDENCY | TREE CHURCH FILM

image marco scerri

the artist studio process of collecting and making is a 3D extension of the sketchbook process and this is where the real intuitive connections are made. this brilliant short film by Catherine Weir gives an overview of the whole residency and the collecting that went on in the name of research. a snapshot in time of the most excellent year spent with members of staff at Battleby, particularly Jim Carruthers who became a huge part of my process. 

as well as the adhocist recycled structure I was also working with texts and with new printmaking techniques – all the prints were made on site with spray paint and bootlace fungus on found materials in my spray shed. working very fast and completely intuitively I produced the aurora prints which are far looser than I normally work when I draw or screen print. initially I set myself one strict condition, that the work must be created within the natural boundaries of battleby with the creative tools at hand. It changed the work and my process and was a great experiment for me personally completely altering my approach and the control I normally have in my working process. 

its hard to believe a year has gone by since this life affirming residency produced tree church but having just returned from a research trip to the forests of finland it makes me realise how strongly biophilia still has me in its grip and quite how much this residency changed me as an artist.

image marco scerri

Mike Inglis - Artist in residence at SNH Battleby Conference Centre from cthrn wr on Vimeo.