Dod yn ôl/Return
The Welsh language phrase dod yn ôl at fy nghoed literally translated means ‘returning (or coming back) to my trees’, while its deeper meaning is about returning to a balanced state of mind. My mother, with whom I had a difficult relationship, died in early 2024. The experience of her death, along with the process of sorting through the many contents of her home, (some of which reflected my life straight back at me), made me feel distinctly out of balance. I have used this project to try and regain a more balanced state of mind through walking, observing and connecting with a place. In this case, a linear place – part of the Severn Way between Oldbury power station and the mouth of the River Avon. Walking and re-walking, my aim was to observe and document the visibly significant and less significant along this stretch of the eastern bank of the Severn. The liminality of the land through which I moved and the many uses to which humans have put it resonates with my current state of mind – in constant flux, with many contradictions and connections. I have returned, not yet to balance, but to a more outward facing and curious state.
