Chasing the Sun

In 2018 I took part in a residency at Spit and Sawdust, Cardiff. Spit and Sawdust is an indoor skate park and artist led space. I found the huge industrial space fascinating to explore. It initially seemed so detached from the body and all that I explore within my practice. As I explored the space and the traces from the skaters, I realised that it was actually a very physical space with bodies traversing the surfaces every day. This odd juxtaposition of the industrial and the physical was my initial way in to explore the space. I noticed how during sunset the sunshine projected itself through the windows, and it too began to traverse the surfaces of the space. I decided to chase the moving sunset across the space, tracing its outline on the plywood skatepark and its industrial metal walls. I drew the outline as it moved, noting also the time and thoughts that moved through my mind as my body made contact with the surface and also the sun, its beams and its shadows. The space became a document of the passing of time and the movement of the earth we live on. A sort of sundial - one specific to this space. I was surprised with how fast we move. In this short time, I felt that I developed a strong bond to that place. My body and that site are now connected through memory of action and the passing of time.