Donna Cooper Hurt

The series, "Communions" speaks to the intersection of memory, history, place and the body. The photographs in this series reflect a collaboration between a place in nature and my body. I believe our bodies have a wild intelligence and I am accessing this in a variety of ways.

In order to access this bodily intelligence that is beyond words I turn to the landscape and engage with it. This engagement is a lengthy process that consists of a variety of components. The first part of this process starts with the acknowledgement that my body and the land have memories and a history. Researching the history of a place and understanding its flora and fauna is the next step in my process of engagement and art making. Having this knowledge of the place allows me to better interpret and choreograph my performance in the landscape.

Before I perform for the camera I scout out a spot that intuitively speaks to me. I may be drawn to a rock formation that is lit a particular way, fallen leaves that have just left the tree, or a meandering creek for example. Once a specific spot is located I start to look at the natural resources nearby. Constructing a sculpture or drawing lines and shapes with the rocks, and flora in the area allows me to create something ephemeral in the landscape. Creating something that is temporary honors not only the landscape but reflects the temporal trace of the body.

After my construction is built I meditate in the space and decide how to best engage with the piece I have built. The personal performance or activity that I do in the space is captured with a camera. The resulting diptych image while a document of a collaborative engagement also comes to represent a fragment of much larger narrative that I am creating for myself. By inciting the past I recontextualize the cultural stories that do not serve me. This new narrative reflects a journey with the innate wild intelligence of my body and the welcomed unpredictable collaboration I have found with the landscape.