bodytides is the expression of an inner-body response to the rhythms of the sea–the rising and falling tides that create an ever-changing prospect from my windows. Lunar cycles, which control the tides, resonate in the human body–which is largely composed of water–particularly in the menstrual cycle.

I began by creating large charcoal drawings on paper, through moving rhythmically and drawing with both hands. Limitations of paper width led to drawing directly on the wall. Limitations of space led to taking the idea to Edinburgh, to work for ten days in the large Patriothall Gallery space, creating a cycle of thirteen charcoal and graphite drawings on the walls. I used Authentic Movement–a reflective improvisational movement practise–to underpin the drawing process, working bi-laterally within the arm’s span (the maritime measurement of a fathom). Like marks on sand disappearing with the incoming tide, the drawings were washed away at the end of the residency.

Photography by Norman MacBeath