photo Simon Beckmann
Joya: AiR / Zoe McIntosh / CYM
‘Stunned by white noise, bristly flora and hidden movements of fauna, a fortnight at Joya Air kicked off an entirely new focus to my ecological investigations - petrology.
Settling into the remote landscape was at first daunting, although living remotely in wales, the sound of a nearby waterfall fills the magical silent void that exists in Sierra Maria - Los Velez.
I discovered a lot about my writing practice, garnering inspiration from the beautiful array of international artists, from the diversity of landscapes, deep down in the ravine formed by the gota fria and high up in the hills to which you can get 360 degrees view of the entirety of the natural park.
Path-Way is a short poetry anthology studying the geological formations that shape the surrounding landscape - from caves, to ravines, high mountains and fire breaks - composing poetry in response to my bodily interaction to the environment that surrounds me, using binaural sound recordings to investigate subtlety of movement’.
After travelling Australia in a camper-van when she was eighteen years old, Zoe decided to move away from her home in the Wye Valley and study a foundation in Marketing Communications in Edinburgh. In 2020, she began a Bachelors at London College of Communication, UAL and she is currently in embarking on a Diploma in Professional Studies, a year out of her studies to home in on and realise her artistic practice. In September-October she was travelling to Italy to learn about and partake in permaculture, agritourism, medicinal herbs and farm management in response to climate change.
She manages the Humble Soup instagram page, creating content and has since onboarded 5 people to help in the growth of this. They are soon to host their second event at double the number of guests at the first one and are currently collaborating with artists on a new project 'Kitchen Draw' giving them the space to talk about their artistic practice, love for soup and power of the words.