journey through a therapeutic landscape
Letter to Jette (1847)
Søren Kierkegaard
“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it… but by sitting still, and the more one sits still, the closer one comes to feeling ill… thus if one just keeps on walking, everything will be all right.”
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During the summer of 2021 I walked across the country from John O’Groats to Land’s End. Upon completing my journey, I struggled with how to visually express my experience of the walk. Inspired by both the playful and colourful amterials employed by ‘outsider artists’ Gordon Anderson and the markmaking of Lachlan Carmichael, I decided to return to the tool of my youth. I allowed the felt tip to lead the depiction of some of the landscapes I had walked through, a process which allowed me to rediscover the simple joy of making whilst at the same time helping me process the journey I had been on.
Permanent Marker on Fine Art Paper
120cm x 42cm