Joya: AiR / Lisa Snook / ENG

‘I went to Joya: AiR to explore what it means to leave something behind. I am fascinated by the concept of transience and wanted to further my understanding of how embodied creative processes can heal old wounds and make space for new beginnings. Joya provided a welcoming home and incubator for all of these and more. What Donna and Simon offer is time, a rare commodity. Time to think, to be, to experiment and play, without objective or critique. Bliss.

During my residency I wanted to use the natural clay that is found in abundance around Joya.  I used bits of fallen wood for armature and made various figures, shapes and forms.  As always, some worked, some didn’t. I tried to adopt a more observant eye whilst working on these forms, noticing what emotions arose during the intimate process of moulding, smoothing and forming the clay. I definitely hit moments of unknowing. But as I began, what felt like ritual, placing the sculptures back in the landscape, returning the clay from where it came, I was immersed in a melancholy that felt more about what had been, as opposed to what was. I think the displacement of self in a place without distractions, allowed for a conduit to open between past and present, letting go of what was no longer needed. How utterly magical and transformative my time at Joya was. A heartfelt thanks to Donna and Simon for imagining and creating Joya: AiR’.

Lisa Snook

Lisa Snook studied at Chelsea School of Art (Foundation), studied a BA (Hons) Fine Art/ Art History at Goldsmiths University and an MA in Art Psychotherapy at IATE London. She is a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors.