Collaboration at a Distance 2020

Reclaiming Self in Nature

KIMBERLEE KOYM-MURTEIRA

Spending time in nature allows me to tap into my resilience. In this sacred space, I attune to the allure of shape, light, and sensation. Using a 360 camera, I document this embodiment practice focused on connecting with the environment by capturing images that convey a sense of enclosure and expansion. The resulting photographs serve as acts of healing, yet also exhibit a fragmented and disembodied quality. In an effort to delve into these intangible states, I utilize these images and processes to convey a simultaneous sense of distortion and harmony, beauty and apparition. In exhibiting this work, I create a series of stills prints on metal or project the moving imagery in installation.

The participants in this project include myself, mothers and members of the queer/non-binary AFAB (Assigned Female at Birth) community. These images capture the experience of integrating oneself with the natural world. Frequently, mothers prioritize the needs of others and may overlook their own self-care. My aim is to reestablish a connection between queers claiming their bodies and nature, free from the constraints of patriarchal and heteronormative frameworks. Concealed beneath this altered depiction of the natural world also lies my profound apprehension for the wellbeing of our environment.