Chatting About Snoring Polar Bears with Phoebe Smith

As part of the digital programme that runs alongside the exhibition, I have arranged to talk to 10 people about mutually inspiring topics. My first conversation is with Phoebe Smith, a young woman born in Wales, who is a writer, podcaster, producer and explorer. It was a webinar at the UK Antarctica Heritage Trust that first introduced me to her, and this week she agreed to speak to me about what it is about extreme landscapes that inspire her.

 

I have a very exciting exhibition in August at Oriel Davies in Newtown, Wales, curated by Steffan Hughes Jones. It's a beautiful gallery space in Powys, mid-wales and will be my largest solo exhibition.

 

As part of the digital programme that runs alongside the exhibition, I have arranged to talk to 10 people about mutually inspiring topics. My first conversation is with Phoebe Smith, a young woman born in Wales, who is a writer, podcaster, producer and explorer. It was a webinar at the UK Antarctica Heritage Trust that first introduced me to her, and this week she agreed to speak to me about what it is about extreme landscapes that inspire her.

 

She was struggling with a nasty cold when she spoke to me, but in true Phoebe spirit she battled through, and we had a really interesting conversation about glaciers, Antarctica, Wales, Greenland and silence.  

 

Next week I'll chat with Richard Davey, a creative academic who reached out during Covid and who has a passion for the language of abstraction. We've chatted a few times about dots and simple mark-making, and I'm looking forward to catching up with him and sharing his thoughts with you soon.

 

My husband wanted to buy me a present this week, the most incredible pair of Inuit Sunglasses.
Unfortunately, the auction was missed, but I saw an image of what he wanted to buy, and I have become obsessed with the most incredible mark-making.


This distillation of simple abstracted dots conjures the most sublime response. They are so incredibly beautiful that I'm now trying to find a comprehensive book on the subject with as many photographs as possible.

And again, like my previous newsletter, I am reminded of the Arctic Exhibition at the Museum of Mankind.

There is a creative language that I feel part of, a simple way of using colour, marks and dots. These simple marks are like a cypher, a language that taps into my subconscious and makes sense.

 

March 25, 2023