Here and Now I (photographic image, 2016) Joy C Martindale *

We have gathered all these found things and arranged them in bundles from these branches in this happy place as it is right now, in this moment.

The Here and Now series was created in Kingsdown Wood in Kent on August 31^st 2016. The bundles hanging from the branches of the tree were made from scraps of fabric and other materials collected from the beach, over the course of a year, close by to Kingsdown in the area of Oldstairs Bay.

Being a mother to two young children, and working outside the gallery system on a micro budget has led me to develop new approaches to making art. In Here and Now my children became my collaborators as they accompanied me on expeditions to the beach to search for fabric and worked with me to create the bundles.

In making this work I have sought out an engagement with particular key elements of nature (trees and the sea and its shoreline), which give me a sense of ‘hereness’, of being present in my immediate surroundings in a way that feels meaningful and positive. The work employs sea-salvaged materials to map connections between these and celebrates the sense of freedom and discovery which comes in embracing the here and now.

* With thanks to photographer Danny Burrows for his assistance.