mélisande may

I have been intertwined throughout my life with what I now understand to be a somatic painting practice. Ever since my father set me up next to his easel as a child and encouraged me to be in the FEELING of painting, in the STORY of painting, what does a raging sea feel like, what does it sound like, how can I express the warmth of the sun on on my skin, where does the depth of my shadow fall? And so I grew up knowing that I had access to this space within me and what I have learnt over the years is that it NEVER dries up. That we ALL have access- that it’s an internal space we carry with us, no matter when we start or how. This is not about artistry or painting a masterpiece. This is more about locating sensations we find in the body, the process of expressing them, fleshing them out with shape, sound and colour - without wanting to get lost the fluff of conceptual talk.

I have learnt to rely on this as a valuable tool, particularly in these last few years, facing certain health challenges and the absolute carnage we are witnessing in acute Polycrisis. What does it really mean to be well anyway? I don’t really know? What I do know, is that I’m constantly circling back and discovering a fullness of place within. That I can access a well of spontaneous information, letting go of outcomes and expectations and just being in the process. Truly leaning into the inquiry-

“how does it feel?”

My hope is to share the simplicity, the depth and simultaneously the lightness and sometimes even silly process of letting go AND sinking deeper, so that we can learn to halt the cult of capitalism, the endless consumer cravings and to be here now with ourselves, in all our watery tenderness, in the heat of fire, in the sigh of breath and the grit of bone. So as to come back HOME to ourselves and in turn to each other.

a burn is a fresh water way

‏ 𓆝 𓆟 𓆝 𓆟

I am an intuitive artist engaged in the practice of spontaneous arising, which to me is a process of decoding information; sensations and feelings in an impromptu, hands on and very visceral approach, often times leading to repetitive movements as a form of self soothing. This practice has become ritual over time.