Conversations of Care

[by] Melissa DeLaney Phase 1:: Conversations of Care, from Arteles Finland, August, 2024

My time at Arteles was spent in practice centred around conversations of care. This was enacted through a conscious approach to mindful immersion, and the thread of care for the environment and in my own artistic, research and wellness practice. Through daily meditation, I discovered a word of the day that became my own focal point for my practice that day, and shared in the studio on the blackboard open to engagement by other artists in residence. I mapped visually my experience using found street newspapers, collage, texta, glue, metallic pens and drawing. This practice was tactile and meditative, with each line, each mark holding the space for me to immerse into moments held in wonder and awe.I invited and held one-on-one conversations of care as part of my research and within the conversations, drew impressions of the participants, in colour and using texta, coloured pencil, metallic pens and again collage. These conversations are the seeding of a longitudinal practice of care and inter cultural exchange into a global network and community of practice. The natural rhythms of the environment and Arteles itself was important. Collaborating with my environment including walking in forests, the countryside, lake swimming, meditation, reading, and listening more deeply to the natural world were vital to the experience. Biophillia. The cycle of the month took us from the last days of summer into the edge of Autumn and closely connected to the shifts in the seasons. This noticing and being was all there was.