Loam (2010)
Made up of two parts, Loam illustrates a carefully composed juxtaposition of animal and human. On a layer of moss, a collection of snails slowly move around; their subtle actions revealing a blinking human eye that compliments the movements of the creatures. As motions of both snail and human correspond, so does the awareness of a shared territory between the species; the blinking eye, awakening to its surroundings. As the silvery strands produced by the molluscs increase, glinting over the terrain, the film quietly switches to a fleshy mass; the film's frame exposing a handful of writhing earthworms inside a human mouth. As the creatures gradually untangle themselves from one another, the mouth appears to devour them; an implication of man's consumption of natural environments. Loam cautiously portrays the connections between man and animal, emphasising the importance of an ecological balance that is imperative to the survival of all species.
Goldfish (2009) Mouth (2010)
Using the mouth as a vessel for the fish, artist and animal form Focusing on the sensuality and movement of the organ, the mouth
a temporary symbiotic relationship, that allows for sensory is lit up from inside, alienated from its surrounding human features.
engagement(s) with the other.
Becoming Bird (2010)
Wearing a suit of gold-sprayed bird wings, Becoming Bird sees Nieuwenhuizen merging with a shroud of 'birds' that encapsulate her frame. Shot to camera, and performed live on the roof of Duncan of Jordanstone, each individual wing quietly quivers; not mistaken for the wind. The effect of the suit, with its eternal shivering gold, is to give emphasis on the nature of the animal, and pose an unnatural integration of the two species.
Photo courtesy Rowan Corkill
Photo courtesy Rowan Corkill