Feeling the polyrhythmic pulse of this place –
this huge windswept body of water and stone.
This vexed being in whose flesh we’re entangled.
Becoming earth.
Becoming animal.
Becoming, in this manner, fully human.
David Abram (2007)
Rosie Newman is a social practice artist who is interested in providing opportunities for people to open their hearts and minds to new ways of seeing the natural world close to where they live.
People’s disconnection from nature is known as a primary concern with respect to biodiversity loss and climate change and there is also a correlation between disconnection from nature and poor mental wellbeing, which is known as Nature Deficit Disorder.
Within these social practice projects, Rosie uses psychological connections through touch, smell, sound and atmosphere, that deepen and imprint on the memory and can enhance feelings of harmony towards nature. Social relations and indigenous knowledge help to catalyse feelings of belonging, ecological literacy and acts of stewardship of the natural world. Art is used to transform thought by enabling people to visit the ‘ in-between spaces’ where the imagination and dream world combine with the phenomenological experience of nature.
Rosie uses a wide variety of methodologies and techniques in her work, these include audio technology, Virtual Reality, ceramics, performance and drawing as well as the dialogical and social dynamics of social art practice.
Earth Sky Water
The projects categorised as Earth Sky Water are three bespoke methods that aimed towards a restorative connection between people and nature. Each project responded to individual communities, places and themes and they took place between 2018- 2020.
Other Projects
Other related social art practice projects that were carried out during the same period of time are found under this tab.
All projects on this website work towards the intention of positive transformative attitudes towards nature and the promotion of good wellbeing.
“The experience of nature is intertwined with the body and integral to a person’s sense of self"
Merleau-Ponty