In this residency, I extend and refine my explorations into the nature of being (a/n/woman/artist) through the continuation and reshaping of my work ‘Artist: Existence, Visibility, Voice’ (April-August 2020, Guest Studio 3), which culminated in a studio exhibition in which the Existence, Visibility and Voice of the artist was at once substantiated and established. The work now echoes into the future, taking on new forms through curiosity and wonder:

What does it mean for one embodied woman artist’s personal and unique explorations to challenge and undo cultural values and prevailing ideologies? What does it mean to live from the heart? How can we become more fully alive? Can and should the life-work of one individual touch and spark new forms of being and kinship with others? What does the lived experience of faith have to contribute to a public sphere where its values and modes of thinking and being human are constantly questioned and frequently dismissed? And to the private sphere?

With a growing delight and confidence in play, joy, pleasure, contemplation, friendship, community and everyday life as the foundation and roots of an increasing fruitfulness, I dive deeper into the discoveries of my summer workings, to explore what more they might become and what they might reveal about the life of the heart, and the nature of existence. While my practice is continuously also research, the longing of this particular project is to produce the exhibition catalogue / expedition report of my summer work, and to build the online launching point of my future.

Alongside this work, I continue the editing of the novel that first brought me to Konstepidemin, a blend of contemporary female epic and künstlerroman inspired by the Easter Island tree of Gothenburg’s Botanical Gardens, and ponder a sequel…

Short bio:
Elizabeth Sercombe is an explorer of the poetics of existence.As an artist, writer, researcher and facilitator, her interdisciplinary work roams multiple forms – including painting, collage, installation, and performance – in the investigation of human experience. Her academic research was published in 2016 as Strange Adventures: Women’s Individuation in the Works of Pierrette Fleutiaux, and unites and extends the psychology of Carl Jung and the philosophy of Simone de Beauvoir in the investigation of Fleutiaux’s heroines’ growing wholeness as individuals and leaders. Elizabeth’s business consultancy invites people and organisations to embrace their own seasons of transformation with bold hope, thoughtfulness and a sense of adventure.