practice-based research project

Research Methodologies

Following Sheila Ghelani’s workshop, I began obsessing with the idea that audiences can bring something existing to a performance, make something within it, and take something new away. I was excited by the idea of them altering the fabric of my performance – leaving spontaneity and chance to enable creation. As the project holds its roots in flowers, and they are naturally unpredictable, I experimented with methods of planting. 

Furthering my commitment to finding nature within the city, I visited an urban garden centre to buy seeds and compost – reusing an egg box at the recommendation of their staff, and planting my first seeds. This began a series of material experiments – using objects around me to research the unpredictability and fleeting nature of floral existence.

First, I attempted preservation. I pressed dozens of full flowerheads, and dried singular petals. Naturally, some worked better than others, a visualisation of nature’s volatility.

Following Julia Bardsley’s artist workshop, I created a fan persona, an obsessive of flowers who ended up focusing on their beauty. Colour, shape, and type of flower fore-fronted her focuses as she arranged bouquets and displays of blooms, and played with combinations. My persona pressed flowers in full bloom, preserving the peak of their aesthetic form, attempting to pause time.

Through working with persona, I explored the practicalities of facilitation – in engaging with one-to-one performance, would I be ‘myself’ or another? Given my name being the French word for flower, I assumed the role of a flower myself – going through cycles, blooming, and beginning again. Inspired by the metamorphosis tracked in Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, as Yeong-hye undergoes a transformative journey alongside nature, I took a less extreme journey of finding balance between humanity and nature. From this process, I found natural environments within the city to be sources of peaceful thought. Thematically, my piece moved away from performed becoming, but the essence of intentionality and personal transformation remained.

Sheila Ghelani’s workshop also inspired my desires to intertwine word and image – many of my initial touchstones being floral metaphors and lyrics. Her A Restorative looks at the uses of herbs, inviting audiences to choose from a selection, and personalise a dream pillow with these ingredients. This led me to experiment with flower arranging based on meaning. A few years ago, my Mum was a florist, so she taught me about arranging bouquets and vases in accord with the seasons. Not only do they signify time in their temporal nature, but they fit into wider ecosystems and respond to their conditions.

Flowers mark time through months and weather patterns, being planted and blooming at specific times. After arranging vases in particular, I began to see the practice as alike to collaging – both processes of curating and selecting from variety. I then turned to paper collage as a way to explore my interest in the written word. How could letters be cut up and combined with image?