Dancing in the Mud Giclee print

Dancing in the Mud - Art Print

A piece developed from an interview I did with a woman who volunteered in the Jungle in Calais (and stayed there for most of the duration of the refugee camp) during the refugee crisis. She personally cared for a group of young afghan teens, (called “the lost boys”) She explained to me her transformation during this time, a sense of being the calm centre, the “eye” of the storm and having a deeper sense of purpose. Most of the vulnteers steered clear of this group of boys as they didn’t fall into the group of women, children or elderly and where seen as violent and potentially dangerous. 

I collaborated with two dancers, who took inspiration from events that took place. 

The night before the camp was demolished by big bulldozers, the refugees all gathered the wood they had used for their make shift shelters, made a bonfire and danced around it, stating that “if anyone is going to destroy our homes, it’s going to be us”. I shared with them a video clip from this dancing I was shown, and they improvised around the movements. The composition was then created from a photoshoot with the dances.

The colours and textures are all elements from the woman’s story; the hardships of the elements, the mud, cold and constant smoke from fires, or teargas from fighting with the police. Most of the young boys slept under tarpaulins in the freezing cold. She became a sort of mother figure for them, and I wanted to add the element of the grounding female figure in the male dominated turmoil.