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expressions of an intimate ecology
the contemporary environmental art practice of peter ward
kescows an bys (the earth talks): an independent take on phenomenology (are you actually listening?)
Posted: January 15, 2026 | Author: pw130524 | Filed under: activ8, eARTh, educ8, PhD | Tags: activism, Art, arts research, body painting, contemporary photography, digital-art, earth pigments, eco art, ecopsychology, Environmental art, illustration, indigenous culture, more than human, phenomenology, photography, Visual arts | Leave a comment(This essay, written to help bring together and express some of my thinking towards my ongoing PhD research, both as part of my writing practice and a means to document my thought processes, will look quite superficially at the role ‘Phenomenology’ has and is playing in my past and present research, and how such ideas may and are impacting engagement and participation in its political intentions.)
intra-actions, Chûn Quoit, West Penwith (digital photo-montage) 2026
I first encountered the concepts/theories of Phenomenology, as formulated by Maurice Merleau-Ponty[i] and the like, during my MA (Art & Environment) at Falmouth University in 2010. It struck a chord. Whether I totally understood it at the time (as always, I was, and still am, loath to wade through tomes of dense undecipherable intellectual pontification to analyse and truly appreciate the intricate and intimate depths and complexities of another’s thinking when it might be explained a lot more simply and accessibly, and when I could be out in the countryside communing with the less judgemental entities of rock and earth, feather and fur, plant and place) my own understanding, and that which I find ‘useful’ (practicality being another consideration central to my own perception of intra-action in this world, based firmly in embodied experience with the Budawang (Indigenous Aboriginal) people, combined with inherited attitudes from my father) whether ‘true’ or not, is that every entity (animal, vegetable and mineral) has its own individual perception of the world, its own, albeit constantly mutating, ‘truth’ which it communicates in its own way; that every situation and relationship is an intra-action of these truths, the active partner and observer being intrinsically/unavoidably influenced and observed by the other, and which ultimately makes up, in complete and intellectually unfathomable and unquantifiable complexity, the nature of our/this existence. Easy!
“Intra-action is a Baradian term used to replace ‘interaction,’ which necessitates pre-established bodies that then participate in action with each other. Intra-action understands agency as not an inherent property of an individual or human to be exercised, but as a dynamism of forces (Barad, 2007) in which all designated ‘things’ are constantly exchanging and diffracting, influencing and working inseparably. Intra-action also acknowledges the impossibility of an absolute separation or classically understood objectivity, in which an apparatus (a technology or medium used to measure a property) or a person using an apparatus are not considered to be part of the process that allows for specifically located ‘outcomes’ or measurement.” Whitney Stark (2016)[ii]
So, how does this partially home-grown ideology, this personally adulterated, illiterately conceived version of ‘phenomenology’ contribute to my own ways of thinking and being? Maybe, obviously, if you have managed (or bothered) to wade through my own indecipherable, grammatically convoluted but erudite explanation, is its suggestion or implication that all life is animate and has an active role, or agency, within (and without) the dynamic relationships, from an atomic to universal level, in everything we do (and don’t)[iii]. That the mere presence of other entities influences, whether consciously or deliberately or not but agentially, our behaviours. That there is not one unchanging Ultimate Truth but an infinite and inextricably interconnected and interrelated number of constantly changing truths, that maybe combined to make up the Ultimate Truth, but that can never be consciously, cohesively or convincingly expressed from a solely anthropocentric perspective (as much as we may constantly try) because, in the West, we simply do not have the right words or means of expression to encapsulate such a vastly entangled and unwieldy concept. If adopted and actively observed politically, such an ideology questions, contradicts and undermines the monotheistic religious beliefs that underpin the scientific and cultural manifestations which unquestionably lead to the continuing extraction and exploitation of people and planet[iv], presenting a far more egalitarian and sensible version of reality in which respons-ability towards and respect for each other plays a more significant role.
Uncle Noel Butler 2013
“we are all equal because we are all different” Uncle Noel Butler, Budawang Elder (2024)
In relation to this/my current project or line of research (kescows an bys (the earth talks) PhD thesis) acknowledgement of the possibility that the ochres (rocks, clays and soils) with which I work (or with which we work collaboratively) and express myself/ourselves have agency, whether conscious or subconscious, intentional or coincidental, in the creative process is integral to my/our actions in presentation, representation and participation[v]. Some might say that the ochres are calling to me, that they are asking to be included in the work (Ross, C. 2025[vi]), that the initial act of foraging is the beginning of a creative intra-action or relationship that is intrinsically reciprocal (Wall Kimmerer, R. 2013[vii]), that the previously relegated and unacknowledged intelligences of ‘inanimate materials’ are seeking a voice through human expression, are seeking affirmation of their/our agency as ecological co-creators and co-inhabitants, that the ‘subaltern’ (Spivak, G.C. 2009[viii]) are wanting to and needing to be listened to and understood at this time of apparent ecological crisis and collapse, whose intelligent contributions founded in the age-old wisdom of earthly/universal experience have important messages for us all[ix].
“The future of humankind lies waiting for those who will come to understand their lives and take up responsibilities to all living things. Who will listen to the trees, the animals and birds, the voices of the places of the Land?” Vine Deloria, Jr (2003)
These ideas are not new. They are part and parcel of, and fundamental to (without wanting to generalise too broadly but then doing so) every Indigenous Culture and Way of Knowing, proving an invaluable element of living consciously, respectfully and sustainably with the Land, within the bounds of our local, immanent ecologies. Right now, their re-emergence is perhaps not coincidental but a direct animate and agential response to the continuing and some might say intentional and ignorant abuses of this earth, our one and only home. Understandings of human intra-action with Nature are being researched and forwarded and ultimately expressed everywhere you look (despite the best efforts of the economically-fuelled, algorithmically-driven populist media to distort, corrupt, undermine and conceal their relevance and intelligence, (but that is another story for another day)). Ideas and practices of Deep-Listening (Oliveros, P. 2005[x]) and Deep-Time (Bjornerud, M. 2024[xi], Luciano, D. (2023)[xii]), of ‘Queer Ecology’ (Sandilands, C., Erickson, B. 2010[xiii]), ‘Eco-feminism’ (Harraway, D. J. 2014[xiv]) and ‘New Materialism’ (Bennett, J. 2009), supported and often referring to Indigenous Cultural Practices (Yunkaporta, T. 2019[xv], Nealle, M., Kelly, L. 2020[xvi]) are offering alternative, more collaborative ways of being and understanding our (humanity’s) place in the Universe.
Self-portraits by Zanele Muholi (2015-18)
‘Visual activism is a mode of survival. There are real, urgent issues at hand.’ Zanele Muholi (2020)[xvii]
But then, getting back to the project (exploring the possibilities of body painting and subsequent representation with ochre), when it comes down to it, who actually wants to look at pictures of a white middle-aged Englishman covered in mud these days, and, more fittingly, what might possess a white middle-aged Englishman to paint himself with mud and take selfies in the first place? (Rest assured, I do intend to work with other people too!) This question is inspired to a degree by the apparent/relative lack of interest to my images on social media, and before we all get emotionally and morally triggered, (and excepting/accepting the faults and foibles of such itinerant ecologically and societally questionable technologies, albeit in their similarity to any other mode of public presentation, engagement or exhibition) this is not solely a criticism of contemporary sensibilities but merely an observation, although both questions are totally pertinent to this research.
ochre body painting (photography: Joanna Natalija[xviii]. Models: Sanna Kelly[xix] and Kerry Tree Tomlins) 2020
Despite much interest and encouragement from fellow artists and friends, it is obvious, in this day and age, that audiences are more likely to linger and interact emotionally with pictures of the young and ‘beautiful’ ensconced in their manufactured rural idylls than an old ‘ugly’ bloke in his living room. But while this may present an uncomfortable truth about the pervasive mentality of a specific consuming majority, as a political artist it is important, or at least preferable, that the work made is exposed to the widest audience possible and that it functions not only through its intellectual justifications but also through its visceral aesthetic qualities and appeal. And then if the work does have an impact, how might such imagery or participation affirm or transform our perceptions and behaviours with the planet? If my art with ochre can have an impact, whether through participation or intellectual engagement, how does this actually happen? Through analysis of both the societal and ecological conditions and nature and presentation of the imagery and processes, my aim is to make them more relevant, more specific and hopefully more powerful.
‘From capturing themselves in shadows and reflections to trying on alternative or speculative identities, ‘The Performative Self-Portrait’ explores the body as material and medium and photography as vehicle to consider ways artists use self-portraiture to enact the self, question history, and articulate identity.’ RISD Museum (2014)[xx]
I am equally intrigued by the choice of photographic portraiture as a means to document and communicate the fun and games we have had and will be having with ochres, alongside the technologies used. Do I continue to explore the dichotomies and anomalies presented by the use of modern digital technology[xxi], and its subsequent dissemination online, or move towards more ‘sustainable’ methods of capture and reproduction and exhibition? How has portraiture been used historically to engage (eco)political themes? Similarly, what degree and forms of collaboration and participation will be adopted in the processes of making, and how will I respectfully acknowledge and represent the plethora of entities and settings that attend and contribute to the work[xxii], however subtly? To this point, the pieces produced have been made quite impulsively and spontaneously, without much questioning or analysing their final form, working with readily available materials/entities and within readily available spaces and situations. While I am interested in the motivations and implications of these ways of working, it will be fascinating to see how more deliberately focused decisions and choices affect the work. All this is still to come…
dressing up for fun (North Devon and Cornwall ochres with found materials and Budawang shell bag) 2026
Through acknowledgement of the role of Phenomenology, whether in my adulterated form, or the ‘official’, peer-reviewed academic version (whoever heard of such nonsense?!?), it may be possible to manipulate and enhance the relationships and impacts evident within the work, to express and explain better the collaborative forms and to ‘listen’ better to ALL (or as many voices as humanly possible) that produce its final manifestation. Phenomenology offers, through identification and acknowledgment of the sensibilities of different lifeforms both human and more-than-human (Abrams, D. 1996[xxiii]) and the relationships they express, alternatives ways to perceive and relate. Contemporary art, in the form of ecologically and socially-engaged art, relational and connective art practices and activism[xxiv], similarly offers opportunities to study, develop and practically communicate alternatives to transform and enrich perceptions and behaviour.
making kin: badger (Bideford Black and China Clay; mobile phone selfie and editing) 2026
While this may be seen as a form of propaganda, whereby manipulating an audience towards specific goals or aims for personal gratification or profit (irrespective of its well-meaning moral or ethical motivations and intentions), it is important to recognise that there is an abundance of processes and pedagogical structures that lead to or offer open-ended outcomes by having faith in a sublime planetary intelligence. In my opinion, and based on the already frightening evidence to hand, it is not within the realms of human capability, or culpability for that matter – just look at the mess the arrogance of Anthropocentric behaviour has got us in!? – to provide purely technological solutions to the incumbent problems of our time, so to merely envision, encourage and embody alternative ways of thinking and relating as means towards ecological empowerment is one of the only powers we have.
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[i] Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962) The Phenomenology of Perception. London; Routledge and Kegan Paul
[ii] https://newmaterialism.eu/almanac/i/intra-action.html
[iii] Salazar, J. F; (2020); Thinking with Soils – Material Politics and Social Theory. London:
[iv] Sheldrake, R. (2012) The Science Delusion. London: Hodder & Stoughton,
[v] Jensen, D (2000) A Language Older Than Words. Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing
[vi] “When I take materials from nature for my craft, I try to balance my needs with the needs of nature. Can you give some advice to people working with natural materials on how to improve their practice?
First, spend a year critiquing the idea that you are taking anything, then questioning whether there is any difference between you and nature, and asking who told you about the scarcity mindset. Who is still telling you that? Who does it serve? Finding what we need in our immediate environment is not shopping, it is not a theft, it is not a rape, and it is not an extraction. Finding and acquiring carefully what you need is living. Indigenous people are practising this lifeway. The reciprocity is just ongoing. How do we know that yellow clay in Dartington woods does not want to be a painting? I personally think that the landscape wants to be art and that it is. I think the rocks want to be carved, I think hairs want to be plaited, I think faces want to be painted. I don’t keep too much anymore. Before I used to think like a millionaire, “What should I take? What do I want to leave?” I don’t want to even think in those terms anymore. Instead, I ask, “When I was last on this piece of land, what was our relationship? Did I leave a little bit of my energy? Do I take a little bit of that rock, or not?” And we just hang out quietly.”
excerpt from ‘Art needn’t cost the earth’ Marina Turlay (@marinaturlay) interviews Caroline Ross (@foundandground), (https://www.schumachermagazine.com/allstories/art-neednt-cost-the-earth) 2025
[vii] Wall Kimmerer, R (2013) Braiding Sweetgrass. London: Penguin Books
[viii] Spivak, G. C. (2009) Can the Subaltern Speak? New York: Columbia University Press
[ix] Latour, B. (2017) Down to Earth – Politics in the New Climatic Regime. Oxford, UK: Polity
[x] Oliveros, P. (2024) Quantum Listening. Padstow, Cornwall; TJ Books
[xi] Bjornerud, M; (2024); Turning to Stone. New York: Flatiron Books
[xii] Luciano, D. (2023) How the Earth Feels. Carolina: Duke University Press Books
[xiii] Sandilands, C., Erickson, B. (2010) Queer Ecologies. Bloomington: Indiana University Press
[xiv] Harraway, D. J. (2014) Staying with the Trouble. Carolina: Duke University Press
[xv] Yunkaporta, T. (2019) Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World, Melbourne: Text Publ.
[xvi] Nealle, M., Kelly, L. (2020) Songlines – The Power and Promise. Sydney: Thames & Hudson
[xvii] Allen, S, Nakori, Y; (2020); Zanele Muholi. London: Tate
[xviii] https://www.instagram.com/joanna_natalija/
[xix] https://www.instagram.com/sanna.kelly/
[xxi] Bridle, J. (2023) Ways of Being. London: Penguin Books
[xxii] Seppala, T, Sarantou, M, Miettinen, S; (2021); Art-based Methods for Decolonising Participatory Research. London: Routledge
[xxiii] Abram, D. (1996) The Spell of the Sensuous. New York: Vintage
[xxiv] Geffen, A, Rosenthal, A, Fremantle, C, Rahmani, A (2022) Ecoart in Action. New York: NYU Press
kescows an bys (the earth talks): structure, content and form (wtf is a methodology anyway?)
Posted: January 8, 2026 | Author: pw130524 | Filed under: A BUNDLE OF STICKS, activ8, eARTh, educ8, PhD, Uncategorized | Tags: anticolonial, arts research, creative process, earth pigments, eco art, ecoart, ecopsychology, Environmental art, foraging, indigenous culture, methodology, ochre, participation, performance art, phd research, photography | Leave a comment“David [Graeber] wanted to put those tools in everyone’s hands or remind them that they are already there. Which is why he worked hard at, and succeeded in, writing in a style that wasn’t always simple, but was always as clear and accessible as possible, given the material. Egalitarianism is a prose style, too. Our mutual friend the writer, filmmaker, and debt abolitionist Astra Taylor texted him: “Re-reading Debt. You are such a damn good writer. A rare skill among lefties.” He texted back that August, a month before his demise: “Why thanks! Well at least I take care to do so—I call it ‘being nice to the reader, which is an extension of the politics, in a sense.” In order to believe that people can govern themselves in the absence of coercive institutions and hierarchies, anarchists must have great faith in ordinary people, and David did. A sentence Lyndsey Stonebridge wrote about Hannah Arendt could apply equally well to him: “To fixate on her exceptional mind is to miss something that is important about her lessons in thinking: thinking is ordinary, she teaches; that is its secret power.”
from Rebecca Solnit’s foreword to Graeber, D. (2024) ‘The Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World: Essays’ Ed. Nika Dubrovsky, London; Penguin.
Bunney’s Mine, Botallack, Cornwall (photo courtesy Siobhan Mclaughlin, 2022)
…with the best of intentions
It is imperative when performing and articulating an academic thesis (such as I am attempting) to work out just how it may be done, what it might contain and the form in which it shall be expressed and communicated. Upon approaching the academic institution, the terminology used is often impenetrable. Some might even say it is a language all of its own, ‘designed’ to exclude the uninitiated. Such esotericism is the antithesis of any intentionally egalitarian process (and the principle to which my research is aimed). While they may eventually become useful, words such as ‘methodology’ abound, to which the majority, even within the institution, are at a complete loss to define. Thankfully, after much soul searching, deliberation and eventual revelation, I think I now understand and am in a happier position to attempt to share my findings, to demystify the abject mystery of this primarily intellectual pursuit and offering.
Quite simply, my methodology is the process by which I make my work. It is the process by which I will pursue the questions raised by this project, this research. It is the structure that will enable, and through which, my findings will be expressed, revealed and communicated. As ‘practice-led’ research my work with ochre will reveal the theoretical concepts upon which I will literally expand.
For the purpose of this research ‘ochre’ refers to rocks, soils and clays, and other naturally derived pigments/colours such as charcoal and plant-dyes, suitable for processing into paint. I prefer the term ‘ochre’, as used by Indigenous Cultures, over that of ‘earth pigments’ because of the latter’s implications of commercial commodification and hence disrespect to, what I consider, equal animate entities.
A BUNDLE OF STICKS MA dissertation cover (2012)
The structure (methodology) that I will use as a means of reflection is based almost entirely on gathering, processing, applying and (re)presenting ochre, and any subsequent actions produced, within the context of contemporary society through my own experience and with additional and respectful reference to personal encounters with the Budawang people and literary accounts of Indigenous Cultures worldwide. It will be further examined and analysed through eco-Feminist, Queer, Geological, Anthropological, phenomenological and Anti-colonial lenses (to name but a few). This has been strongly influenced by my MA (Art & Environment) project and dissertation (A BUNDLE OF STICKS, 2012[i]) whereby I saw the interconnected but often disparate, or only vaguely cohesive, elements of the project (sticks) held together (bound) by a theoretical and/or material thread. Through many years working with hand-gathered (foraged) ochres I have recognised their agency to illuminate particular topics regarding our relationships with each other as entities, human and more-than, within this universal ecological community we may call Earth. In this case the threads that will (hopefully) hold the elements and content together are that of Deep-listening[ii], connective process (as ‘Instruments of Consciousness’[iii]), participation and representation.
questions, questions and more questions (of an open-ended and often unanswerable variety)…
The first questions are that of motivation and inspiration: what motivates and inspires me, emotionally, politically, spiritually, to do the work that I do and to pursue this research? What has drawn me as a white, ‘Western’ man, and others from a multitude of diverse backgrounds, at this moment in time, to forge intimate, creative relationships with ochre (rocks, soil, clay)? How has ochre spoken to me/us and what is our ongoing, evolving relationship saying about the ways we are interacting with Earth and each other, and about existence itself? What has driven me, personally, to this action and how might it be important and relevant to society, for individuals and as a whole? Accordingly, I will expand on ideas of duality, theories of Science, the imposition of dominant Scientific and Religious narratives[iv], the impact of Covid-19, colonialism, etc, and other movements and ideologies that have, and continue to, detach/separate people from Nature, as the means of our own sustenance, empowerment and wellbeing, all set against personal ancestry and experience (auto-ethnography). These initial questions will help define and make relevant my ‘position’ (‘positionality’ is very popular these days).
foraging historic mining waste, Levant Mine, Cornwall (photo courtesy Siobhan Mclaughlin, 2022)
The next questions arise from the action of foraging: of relationships with local ecologies; to geological understanding scientifically, historically and politically; to contemporary and historical legally-enforced restraints around gathering materials from the environment; to gaining ‘permission’; the right to roam and ideas of property and Land ownership[v]; to ethical and moral choices of removing ochre from its source and any implications that may entail including what agency the ochres may invoke and express; to the politics of industrial scale extraction; to methods, rituals and scale of extraction; to Indigenous principles of reciprocity[vi]; to what we may learn from participation in foraging and how it may enrich our lives. Ultimately, how is culture and identity directly related to specific ecologies and how may practical engagement with the more-than-human enhance and influence behaviour and relationship? What does it mean to be ‘indigenous’ in the ‘West’ beyond recent pagan revivalism[vii] and how may respectful reflection on Indigenous Culture and Knowledge contribute towards better relationships with our immanent, local ecologies?
grinding charcoal for paint, Nura Gunyu Cultural Centre, Budawang Country (2023)
The third section will investigate methods of processing (making paint), inferring questions such as ‘what is technology?’; the multifarious implications of rapidly advancing moves away from tactile/hand engagement with materials towards virtual and AI experience; how process is determined by purpose (form following function) including decisions about what ochre or paint is suitable for what is being done, etc; how physical interaction with ochres enable a deeper understanding of their ‘voices, whether as a geochemical being or animate collaborator; and to recognition of the individual characteristics of ochres and subsequent questions around anthropomorphising (imbuing human characteristics upon more-than-humans). While ‘sustainability’ is often cited as a motivation in this type of work, whenever dealing with environmentally-friendly materials used as binders or surfaces the realities of industrial methods of extraction, production, transportation and commodification invariably arise presenting further relevant questions around choices of individual complicity in the destructive system we currently inhabit.
3 faces (North Devon and Cornwall ochre face painting; digital photography and editing) 2025
The creative application of ochre as paint and/or within ritual is a vast area. For this project I will focus on ochre as a medium for performative body painting and participatory painting actions as forms of ecological art[viii] and activism but also more ‘traditional’ personal expressions on paper, canvas and in the environment. While ochre has been utilised as paint since people have expressed relationships with Earth through ‘Art’ (only quite recently being almost completely replaced by chemically manufactured pigment alternatives), I will explore the phenomenon of its adoption and revival within contemporary culture. How does working with ochre, both as a process and expressive collaborator, influence the experience of making and the outcome? Is it, and how is it, beneficial? In the words of Budawang Elder Uncle Noel Butler (generously shared during a workshop we performed together in 2023) “painting our bodies with ochre does not make us different, it makes us more fully ourselves”. I will expand upon the implications of this statement towards alternative relationships with art and ecology. For example, how is putting on ‘make-up’ different from ochre body painting?
‘Visual activism is a mode of survival. There are real, urgent issues at hand.’
Zanele Muholi (2020)[ix]
Finally, how may such processes by documented and presented and how may the ochres be most respectfully represented as collaborative partners? Creative participation also raises many questions around power structures in process, documentation and presentation as well as politically towards marginalised groups[x]. Navigating such ethical considerations is central to this research. I will explore aspects of live performance, participatory actions within diverse settings and still and video photographic processes to be presented in exhibition, online and printed form. Is it a contradiction to employ modern technology to represent what are relatively ‘primitive’ actions or does the possible and intriguing dichotomy emphasise the complexities of the contemporary ecological narrative? Are there more appropriate ecologically ‘sustainable’ options such as vegetable-derived photographic developers? I am excited to explore how this research may be best communicated beyond physical participation and engagement. How might audiences receive and engage with the information expressed and how may it influence their future behaviours? There are so many possibilities…
Painting a Parish Future, Gorran Haven, Cornwall (participatory community painting project with Dr Joanie Willett, 2019)
The research will ultimately inform, explain and reflect upon decisions around methods of representation, of ways of listening, of the diverse implications of the acknowledgement of marginalised human groups and non-human entities, presenting possible actions of indigenisation to amplify the possibilities revealed. Essentially, the actions will offer prescriptions for earth-led healing, considering and assimilating as many voices and influences as possible, within the scope of the human mind, to enable peaceful resolution of contemporary challenges. As the world experiences (according to many) evident human-led ecological crisis it is perhaps imperative that we seek alternative ways of being. By seeing/perceiving the world we inhabit differently, from a plethora of diverse perspectives that contribute more realistically to palpable (but equally inaccessible) applicable truths, we may inform more egalitarian, ecologically sustainable relationships and possible, but constantly shifting adaptive, resolutions to evolving situations. We live in hope but act in the material becoming of this world that we are privileged to experience.
‘If it is a matter of multiplying viewpoints so as to complicate all “provincial” or “closed” views with new variants, it is a fight that deserves to be fought.’
from Latour, B. (2017) Down to Earth – Politics in the New Climatic Regime. Oxford, UK: Polity
In my next post I will elucidate further on the nature of my original contribution to ‘Knowledge’, another necessary requirement of conducting and completing PhD research.
pw 080126
[i] https://intim8ecology.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/peter-ward-a-bundle-of-sticks-ma-ae-dissertation-2012.pdf
[ii] Oliveros, P. (2024) Quantum Listening. Padstow, Cornwall; TJ Books
[iii] Sacks, S. (2024) Social-Aesthetic Strategies for a Change of Heart. shelleysacks.com
[iv] Sheldrake, R. (2012) The Science Delusion. London: Hodder & Stoughton
[v] Hayes, N. (2021) The Book of Trespass. London: Bloomsbury Press
[vi] Wall Kimmerer, R (2013) Braiding Sweetgrass. London: Penguin Books
[vii] Harvey, G. (2020) Indigenizing Movements in Europe. Sheffield: Equinox Publishing Ltd
[viii] Geffen, A, Rosenthal, A, Fremantle, C, Rahmani, A (2022) Ecoart in Action. New York: NYU Press
[ix] Allen, S, Nakori, Y; (2020); Zanele Muholi. London: Tate
[x] Seppala, T, Sarantou, M, Miettinen, S; (2021); Art-based Methods for Decolonising Participatory Research. London: Routledge
kescows an bys (the earth talks): a beginning in an end
Posted: January 1, 2026 | Author: pw130524 | Filed under: activ8, eARTh, educ8, PhD, Uncategorized | Tags: Art, arts research, Bodypainting, ecoart, Ecology, ecopsychology, environment, Environmental art, indigenous culture, more than human, Nature, North Devon, ochre, phd research, poetry, Visual arts | 4 Comments‘If it is a matter of multiplying viewpoints so as to complicate all “provincial” or “closed” views with new variants, it is a fight that deserves to be fought.’ from Latour, B. (2017) Down to Earth – Politics in the New Climatic Regime. Oxford, UK: Polity
It is so hard to know where to begin when the story has already ended[i], when there are so many beginnings and so many ends. Did this story start when the first hominid smeared colours on their skin, recognising their connection with fertile earth[ii], when the first people mixed ground earth with fat and resin to make paint, when the paint was daubed on rocks and cave walls, on papyrus and paper and canvas, telling tales with pictures and patterns of their lives in Country, affirming their existence in relationship with all? Or does it begin with the rocks themselves, in their desire to find a voice. We are all made from earth after all?
origins, Saunton Sands, North Devon (Bideford Black and Ball Clay ochre) 2018
Or was it when my mother threw stones at my father beneath the cliffs on a sandy beach in North Devon to attract his attention? Was it when they named me ‘rock guardian’ or ‘rock storyteller’ – my name, Peter Ward, translated from its linguistic roots? Did it start in Barnstaple or Portsmouth or any of the other many places my genes carry within them? Is it a story of my ancestors’ lives in the fields, soil deep beneath their skin and under their nails, toiling in servitude to their imperial overseers, their instigators of property and theft?
Barnstaple/Bideford Bay, North Devon (2025); 3 generations, from Family Archive (M Ward 1973)
Whatever, it is certainly a consequence of the 20 years I have been working with earth, with ochre, with rocks and clay and soils as part of my vocational cultural artistic practice, inspired by my love of Nature, encouraged from childhood by my family, by their stories of growing up in simpler but poorer times, instructed by my father’s common sense and honesty, by my brother’s diligence and perseverance, and by my mother’s care, by walks in the woods, by hours spent bobbing about on small boats fishing, by sailing the sea and surf and tides, by camping beneath the stars, cooking hand-caught fish on fires made with driftwood and turf, by megaliths and rugged cliffs, by badger cubs running across my feet on my birthday, by tracking red deer through the forest, by riding my bike in all weathers, by living for many years close to nature in the wilder places that western Europe has to offer… and yes, all of these things.
ochre sites, North Devon (2018)
In many ways this research, this story, is a document of my journey, utilized as example and/or evidence, in relationship with Earth and the agency of community, both human and more-than[iii], that has nurtured and directed my life. It is a reflection upon and recollection and celebration of the many and diverse possibilities, connections and eventualities it has revealed. Not simply through reading and the re-presentation of others’ understandings but through long (durational) and dedicated conversations with the materials with which this art is made, the actions and technologies of collecting and processing them, and their application in the contemporary world as creative collaborative entities, entwined with both myself and the communities from which they hailed. Thankfully, I am not alone in my pursuit of practical and applicable knowledge and will be inspiring my journey with others, my supervisors included, alongside friends and associates who share my love of ochre and share my views.
North Devon take-away (hand-gathered Devon ochres) 2016
It is definitely not always a happy tale. Earth and its vulnerable communities, as we are probably all too painfully aware, has not had an easy ride and continues to writhe in tumultuous disarray, stubbornly shrugging off any attempt at peaceful and rational ordering that humanity deigns to impose in its pitiful attempts to bring Nature under ‘control’ and to which all are also prey. But thankfully there are still those who, after thousands and thousands of years and many generations of careful observation and mutual respect, and despite continuing violent oppression and displacement, have learnt to live better with the shifting and often erratic tides of Natures movements. And it is to these lifeways, of the Indigenous and Aboriginal peoples, that some are now turning[iv], almost serendipitously and synchronistically, and now with the utmost respect, as the earth and the life upon it, through what most believe to be our own ignorance and greed, experiences yet another existential threat to its continued well-being (or at least human survival and that of all ‘life’ on earth).
“we are all equal because we are all different” Budawang saying courtesy Uncle Noel Butler (2023)
To many my introduction may seem somewhat self-indulgent and in contradiction of the ‘objectivity’ expected of the dominant or traditional perception of ‘scientific’ research. However, this project is not strictly ‘scientific’. We do not have to ‘follow the Science’ as if there are no other forms of knowledge[v]. It is not driven by a desire for peer-reviews or the approval of a system that continues to prove its inadequacy in the face of ongoing violent inequalities, but to contribute something practical in the face of ecological adversity. There are always other ways, other voices if we choose to listen[vi].
I always remember a wise school teacher (yes, there are some) saying “that we can only truly write about or express what we have experienced ourselves”. I have since developed and adopted a way of thinking that I later learnt to be framed as ‘phenomenology’, where each and every entity in the universe, whether individually or in community, has its own perception and expression of ‘Truth’, the practically impossible conscious assimilation of which may pertain to the Universal Truth to which humanity often aspires. To personally assume a position of universal ‘Truth’, to be ‘objective’, is to my mind one of the plethora of lies upon which Western ‘civilisation’ (“that would be good idea” as Mahatma Ghandi once said) is founded and one that denies the voices of both the marginalised communities whose beliefs differ from the dominant economically-driven narrative and the multitude of non-human entities with which we share our lives. As inconvenient as such inclusivity and respect may seem, without our acknowledgement and gratitude of their integrity, complicity and importance, our existence on planet Earth will continue to be destructive, exploitative and unjust. This thesis, directed predominantly by my creative collaborative practice with locally sourced ochres, is motivated by and towards such ideals and apparent realities.
Budawang Elders Uncle Noel and Uncle Phil Butler ‘sharing knowledge’ in ceremony (photo courtesy P Butler 2025)
Through delving deeply into the many questions that arise from such a study, this story will hopefully reveal small acts of resistance[vii], small acts of repair and recuperation[viii], enriching acts of generosity and reciprocation[ix], through cultivated relationships with earth, with ochre, through making familiar and making kin[x], through traditional and more contemporary art practices, with some of the oldest teachers this planet has to offer[xi], making space to learn to listen to their wisdom and their guidance as earth turns once more in this immeasurable and insurmountable universe that we are privileged to call home. It will most definitely aim not to be just another anthropocentric study of human folly and human solutions (founded in arrogant appropriation and domineering) but an attempt to respect and re-assimilate the many and often unheard, silenced and neglected voices of the broader community we inhabit[xii], towards a less fractured portrayal, a more ‘real’ expression of this wonderful and shared existence.
‘I am not and will never be from an indigenous culture. That doesn’t mean I cannot establish a relationship with the land where I live, based not on indigenous beliefs and practices but instead on my own primary experience. Nor does it mean I cannot help bring to a final halt the pervasive destructiveness of our culture.’ from Jensen, D (2000) A Language Older Than Words. Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing
pw25
(PS To clarify this is not an academic paper, but more a journal of thoughts and ideas towards my PhD research project. Please respond accordingly. Thank you :-))
[i] I have recently published a book (expressions of an intimate ecology: an ongoing conversation with earth pigments in southwest England (published and available from artearthbooks.com, 2023)) and presented retrospective exhibitions at the Heseltine Gallery, Truro School (2023) and Plough Arts Centre, Torrington, North Devon (2024) to bring together and represent my first 20 years working with ochre.
[ii] Watts, I. (2024) ‘Blood symbolism at the root of symbolic culture? African hunter-gatherer perspectives.’ Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
[iii] “More than ever, it is time for re-imaginings. Yet this act of imagination cannot be ours alone. To think against human exceptionalism requires us to think outside and beyond it, and to recognize in Blake’s vision the deep truth of his words: nature is imagination itself. In this truth is encapsulated the philosophy behind the phrase I used earlier: the more-than-human world.
Coined by the American ecologist and philosopher David Abram, the “more-than-human world’ refers to a way of thinking which seeks to override our human tendency to separate ourselves from the natural world. This tendency is so pronounced it is rife even within environ-mentalism, the movement which seeks to bring us closer to nature and thereby to preserve it. For in so framing our intentions, we have already set up an implicit separation between ourselves and nature, as if we were two separate entities, unbound by inseparable ties of place and origin. Conventional terms such as ‘the environment’, and even ‘nature’ itself (particularly when opposed to ‘culture’), compound the erroneous idea that there is a neat divide in the world between us and them, between humans and non-humans, between our lives and the teeming, multitudinous living and being of the planet.
In contrast, the ‘more-than-human world’ acknowledges that the very real human world – the realm of our senses, breath, voice, cognition and culture – is but one facet of something vastly greater. All human life and being is inextricably entangled with and suffused by everything else. This broad commonwealth includes every inhabitant of the biosphere: the animals, plants, fungi, bacteria and viruses. It includes the rivers, seas, winds, stones and clouds that support, shake and shadow us. These animate forces, these companions on the great adventure of time and becoming, have much to teach us and have already taught us a great deal. We are who we are because of them, and we cannot live without them.” from Bridle, J. (2022) ‘Ways of Being – Animals, Plants, Machines: The Search for Planetary Intelligence’ London: Penguin Books
[iv] I am most fortunate and privileged to be working with Uncle Noel Butler, Elder of the Budawang People, and his community to enable reflection upon indigeneity and indigenization in southwest England where I currently reside. Also see Yunkaporta, T. (2019) Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World, Melbourne: Text Publ. and Nealle, M., Kelly, L. (2020) Songlines – The Power and Promise. Sydney: Thames & Hudson
[v] Seppala, T, Sarantou, M, Miettinen, S; (2021); Art-based Methods for Decolonising Participatory Research. London: Routledge
[vi] Researchers in the Margins: “As stated earlier, researchers who choose to research in the margins are at risk of becoming marginalized themselves in their careers and workplaces. One strategy for overcoming this predicament is to embrace the work and commit to building a career from that place. As writers such as bell hooks and Gloria Anzaldua have argued, the margins are also sites of possibilities that are exciting and on the edge. Cultures are created and reshaped; people who are often seen by the mainstream as dangerous, unruly, disrespectful of the status quo and distrustful of established institutions are also innovative in such conditions; they are able to design their own solutions, they challenge research and society to find the right solutions. Researchers who work in the margins need research strategies that enable them to survive, to do good research, to be active in building community capacities, to maintain their integrity, manage community expectations of them and mediate their different relationships.” from Linda Tuhiwai Smith (2021) ‘Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples’, 3rd Edition. London; Bloomsbury
[vii] Scott, J. C. (1987) Weapons of the Weak. London: Yale University Press
[viii] Harraway, D. J. (2014) Staying with the Trouble. Carolina: Duke University Press
[ix] Wall Kimmerer, R (2013) Braiding Sweetgrass. London: Penguin Books
[x] Krawec, P. (2022) Becoming Kin. Minneapolis: Broadleaf Books
[xi] Khatwa, A (2025) The Whispers of Rock: Stories from the Earth. Hachette, UK: Little, Brown Book Group
[xii] Spivak, G. C. (2009) Can the Subaltern Speak? New York: Columbia University Press
expressions of an intimate ecology – a retrospective exhibition at Heseltine Gallery, Truro School (2023)
Posted: December 29, 2025 | Author: pw130524 | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: arts research, Cornwall, earth pigments, Environmental art, exhibition, Heseltine Gallery, indigenous culture, North Devon, painting, retrospective, video, Visual arts | 1 CommentA short film by Sean White-Hayes to document my exhibition looking back over 20 years working with ochres, earth pigments and mining waste in Southwest England.
y’th greuv (in yer face), Porthmeor Studio 9, 2021
Posted: December 29, 2025 | Author: pw130524 | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: arts research, body painting, Cornwall, earth pigments, eco art, ecopsychology, indigenous culture, North Devon, ochre, performance art, video | Leave a comment“when we paint our bodies with ochre we do not become different we became more fully ourselves” Uncle Noel butter, Budawang Elder (2023)
in response to the immanent ecological crisis it is imperative that relations with Land and landscape change from one of philosophical separation and exploitation to that of physical immersion, interdependence and respect. as artists we may be instrumental in this change. as visual artists it may no longer be appropriate that our observations are merely passive and visual but more intentionally and proactively felt as bodily experience within material and place. Working in conversation with hand-gathered and processed ochres and the land they inhabit may enable such experience, offering space for more holistic expression in collaboration with the more-than-human world.
This short film, made in collaboration with Sean White in 2021 during a residency at Porthmeor Studio 9 in St Ives Cornwall UK, begins to express aspects of my ongoing relationship with local ochres (rocks, clays and soils) through one of the oldest art forms – body painting.
To see further work made with Cornish and North Devon ochres, earth pigments, mining waste and clay during the 4 month residency please visit https://peterward-artist-illustrator.co.uk/kescows-an-bys-the-earth-talks-10-porthmeor-studio-9-2021/
Kescows an Bys (the earth talks), Porthmeor Studio 5, 2019
Posted: December 29, 2025 | Author: pw130524 | Filed under: anim8, eARTh, Uncategorized | Tags: arts research, Cornwall, creative process, earth pigments, eco art, Environmental art, ochre, painting, Porthmeor Studios, video | Leave a commentA short film with Sean White-Hayes outlining my working process with hand-foraged ochres, earth pigments and mining waste in Southwest England, filmed during a 6-week tenancy in the prestigious Porthmeor Studio 5, St Ives, Cornwall.
I had been selected for a short tenancy to work (paint) at a larger scale with Cornish earth pigments and mining waste. The space in the historic studio building oozed with provenance of the aamny gifted artists who had worked there over the years.
To see the paintings made during the tenancy visit https://peterward-artist-illustrator.co.uk/painting-with-earth-cornwall-4-porthmeor-studio-5-st-ives-2019/
the regeneration game – a welcome return
Posted: December 29, 2025 | Author: pw130524 | Filed under: eARTh, Uncategorized | Tags: climate-change, Cornwall, earth pigments, ecoart, Education, environment, indigeneity, North Devon, ochre, painting, phd research, regeneration, Research, writing | 3 CommentsIt has been some time since I have posted on this site. It that was initially created to accompany my MA (Art & Environment) studies at Falmouth University in 2010 and was active until 2018 when I moved to Cornwall with my young family, continuing to comment and document on my ecological art practice with earth pigments, ochres and mining waste in the far Southwests decimated minefields, blasted coastline and soggy megalith-strewn bogs and moors.
Looking east from Carn Galver, West Penwith, Cornwall, 2023
In the meantime, there has been Covid-19 and the continuing and accelerating global struggle with colonialism and ecological degradation. However and in response, I have continued to indulge and share my obsession with earth colour and the insightful creativity it generously offers towards these pressing issues. I have delivered many workshops with diverse audiences, exhibited paintings when opportunities have arisen, published a book (expressions of an intimate ecology: an ongoing conversation with earth pigments in Southwest England), travelled to Budawang Country to spend inspiring times with Uncle Noel and Aboriginal friends, and enjoyed a wonderful residency with some brilliant like-minded artists for the Knepp Wilding Project in West Sussex, while sharing my work through the somewhat simpler and shorter formats of Instagram (@peteward.artist) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pete.ward.399). Most recently I registered for PhD research, again at Falmouth University, to delve even deeper into the possibilities and insights that working with ochre might provide.
promotional flyer for my book, published by artearthbooks.com 2023
And it is to this end that I have regenerated and returned to this BLOG. While Instagram and Facebook have (for better or worse) maintained my online presence their format is relatively limited, restricting written reflections through word count and pictures and video to strict allocations. Working towards a PhD demands a certain amount of writing (a minimum of 30,000 words for practice-led research) and so I have reopened this site to practice some longer creative and philosophical reflections and to share my research with you as another audience. How well I will be able to respond to comments I am as yet unsure but will endeavour to respond when and if possible. I would love to hear from you.
Saint Ia (Cornish earth pigments and linseed oil on primed salvaged board; 94x74cm) 2021
But for now, welcome back! Thank you for your ongoing interest and support and I look forward to sharing my research with you as it develops and reveals itself. My first posts will present some short films made with film-maker Sean White to bring you up to speed with my more recent activities and ventures. I hope you enjoy reading and digesting what I present and that the perspectives I represent and express in some way enrich your life experiences with this miraculous universe that we are privileged to enjoy.
little box of tricks (China clay, Bideford Black string, gorse twig, antique box) 2021
Peter Ward, 29th December 2025
on being grounded…
Posted: September 10, 2019 | Author: pw130524 | Filed under: activ8, the ash tree | Tags: Arte Povera, ecopsychology, Feeling, Meditation, poetry, Prayer, Ritual, Visual arts | Leave a comment 
Arrrrgh, Let me OUT!! (pen on envelope on human head) © p ward 2019
there are some of us
who are accused
of being ‘grounded’:
perceiving the world and our actions
through a balanced, responsible and rational lens
rooted in practicality and common sense.
but then some of us have also been ‘grounded’ as punishment,
our freedom curtailed by a parent or guardian
for actions that often do not lie within preconceived moral boundaries,
boundaries of balance, responsibility and rationality,
often rooted in practicality and common sense
often according to Nature and her Laws
Teignmouth, South Devon; Big Silver Bentley, Gurnard’s Head, Cornwall © p ward 2019
but how we wish to fly
to shed the shackles of good sense
for other and ourselves
in search of learning, perspective and sensual joy
defining new boundaries beyond our knowledge
or otherwise fleeting original experience
before our time is out
in magic
we see
in magic
we live
Trease Mine, Boscaswell, Cornwall © p ward 2019
© P Ward 2019
and yet…
Posted: September 10, 2019 | Author: pw130524 | Filed under: activ8, the ash tree | Tags: art and science, Arte Povera, climate crisis, climate emergency, eco art, ecopsychology, Feeling, Interdisciplinarity, Meditation, poetry, Prayer | Leave a commentthis climate emergency, part 2
drawing on my face 4: seeing (masking tape and marker pen on human head) © p ward 2019
and yet,
the sun and moon still rise and fall
birds sing
grass grows
everything is somehow in place.
despite imagery evocative of an abrupt demise,
despite rising popular opinion and attendant fearful frenzy,
despite the corroboration of a high percentage of scientific peers,
despite indicative physical, ideological and pecuniary global suffering and conflict,
despite a lifelong personal acknowledgement of our continuing abuse of Nature…
I do not sense
I do not feel
the end.
I cannot sense
I cannot feel
the end.
I do not, cannot
and will not accept
the end.
so what of instinct and intuition (the antithesis of science)?
what of individual response?
what of collective consciousness?
what of the uninformed, the common man?
are we, en masse, running from the ensuing fire?
and anyway, where can we run in this apparent global catastrophe?
if I do not feel it,
if I stand aside the mindful stampede,
am I simply burying my head in the sand
in denial of empirical objectivity,
in fear of the inevitable?
or is it that
I do not know within my power what more I may do?
as I stand on this excellent brink of oblivion, this ending of sorts,
with the knowledge, wisdom and capability of all I have before
there is opportunity
there is technology
and there is love.
I must either believe in the magic and wonder of the human spirit within Nature or not
like every day
like any day
I breath
I choose
I act according to (my) Nature…
drawing on my face 4: seeing (masking tape and marker pen on human head) © p ward 2019
© P Ward 2019
it is like being told I am dying
Posted: August 24, 2019 | Author: pw130524 | Filed under: activ8, the ash tree | Tags: Arte Povera, arts research, climate crisis, climate emergency, eco art, ecopsychology, extinction rebellion, Feeling, Meditation, poetry, Prayer | 3 Commentsthis climate emergency, part 1
in a climate of overwhelming societal and professional expectation as an artist and an earth being i have struggled to know how to meaningfully and effectively respond directly to this ever-present issue. here are some of my thoughts and feelings expressed through words and an ongoing visual project…
it is like being told I am dying
that I am in the final stages of a terminal disease
after a long chronic illness or complaint
and that if I live the way I always should have,
the way I always have,
the way I have always known I should,
the way I have always said we should,
then maybe, maybe, maybe
I will not die.
it is like being told I am dying
but that everyone else and every other life is dying too.
that we are all dying and that it is all our own fault,
well, maybe not allour own fault
but somebody’s fault, some system’s fault, some thought-form’s fault,
that this beauty, this wonder that we experience on a daily basis
will no longer exist (for us)
because of us
it is like being told that everything and everybody that we love
is going to die, to not be.
it is a just like dying,
my experience of dying and death
in normallife –
we are all dying.
we are all going to die.
we are all living with the knowledge that we are all going to die,
that everything and everybody that we love is going to die
and that we shall experience suffering (and joy)
together.
it is still a shock when it comes.
when the reality of our imminent passing becomes apparent.
the utter enormity of it
combined with our inherent inability to conceive of such.
and who are we to talk to
other than those others similarly afflicted and condemned,
others who love and feel and care,
those who are afraid of what might become?
so
how shall we live?
how shall I live?
how shall I end this final sentence?
drawing on my face – smile (masking tape and marker pen on human head) © p ward 2019
© P Ward 2019
Recent Posts
- kescows an bys (the earth talks): an independent take on phenomenology (are you actually listening?)
- kescows an bys (the earth talks): structure, content and form (wtf is a methodology anyway?)
- kescows an bys (the earth talks): a beginning in an end
- expressions of an intimate ecology – a retrospective exhibition at Heseltine Gallery, Truro School (2023)
- y’th greuv (in yer face), Porthmeor Studio 9, 2021
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expressions of an intimate ecology 