Exploring landscapes,
looking for the invisible threads,
that weave our connections
with nature.
Overview
This practice-led research project aims to explore and develop ways that address how a meaningful and purposeful connection with nature can help us re-think and re-define our place in the environment.
Creating art and experience spaces that promote nature awareness are at the core of my project and hope to inspire, spark curiosity, and wonder with the aim of re-addressing how we connect with the natural world.
Choosing a site of enquiry
With the purpose of exploring human connection with nature and due to the vastness of this subject, I chose to focus on a particular site for the development of the research project. During a lecture of Dominic Wilkinson, lecturer at John Lennon School of Art and Design and part of my MA Art in Science, I found out about Hilbre Island and felt inspired by the potential of this site as a base for my research and explorations.
About Hibre Island
Hilbre is a small island off the coast of West Kirby (Merseyside). Is a Nature Reserve contained within the Dee Estuary and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
It’s only accessible by foot when the tide allows, which adds to that uniqueness and sense of remoteness. It’s a wild place, full of natural beauty. There is particular species in terms of flora and fauna that belong to Hilbre Island. All these factors make it an ideal haven to embrace re-connecting with nature.
Aims and Objectives
The key aims of the project are:
⟡ To find ways to understand about the symbiotic relationships between species, and between species and their environments. Basically, a deep understanding of ecology.
⟡ Finding different ways to help people understand aspects of nature that are not easily understood.
⟡ Highlight the role/s we play in nature.
These aims are crucial to gain an understanding about how our planet works and the role we play in different natural processes. Artworks and spaces will act as channels towards meaningful connections with the unseen systems of our planet, and hopefully help us re-connect with what makes life on the planet possible.
In order to achieve the outlined aims, as an artist and graphic designer, I will aim to:
⟡ Present information in a compelling and engaging way to the public
⟡ Create different routes to access nature. Either through visual artworks, use of sound and video.
⟡ Highlight the role we play in the natural processes, by inviting the observer to play an active role in the unfolding of particular experiences. For example, inviting observers/visitors to capture nature through recording (either of sound, video, by using artistic materials). Read more in next steps.
⟡ Seek collaborations with different professionals with the purpose of broadening the scope and reach of the project. Read more in next steps.
About me
My name is Luciana Hermida, I am a mixed media artist, graphic designer and currently a postgraduate student of MA Art in Science at Liverpool John Moores University. Throughout my career as an artist I have explored the visible and invisible aspects of nature, manifested across a range of media. My approach to art is very playful, I draw inspiration from nature and manifest it through the use of textures, colours, shapes that evoke love for nature and imaginative freedom. From my perspective, not one media can be conclusive. Nature is full of complexities and richness and requires a disposition for creative freedom.
Through the interactions of art and science I believe we can re-connect with our environment, broaden our perspective of the world and understand natural phenomenon at a deeper level.
“Man is not above nature, but in nature.”
— Ernst Haeckel