Artist's Statement
My work related to the environment aims to explore and inspire new awareness of 'nature' and to express new levels of language construction around 'nature'.
Whilst my own performance art is very physical, a large degree of philosophical thought (a mixture of my own and mainly Martin Heidegger) motivates my art-making process. This and the fact that I have completed a philosophical MA in Values and the Environment makes me a critical customer to the general field of arts and environment.
I have been creating performance art for over fifteen years and have shown in a variety of countries and contexts. My works are usually site-specific and performed once only. I do not use spoken work and most works are action-based (i.e. unrehearsed). Works have a strong visual presence, however. My work is challenging in that it is experimental and the literal meaning not always 'obvious'.
I also work with art as a social practice, setting up and leading many projects with a broad educational feed-in and creative end product. This, too, is linked to my desire to foster greater engagement in others with the natural environment through activating cognitive curiosity.
My performance work is very small scale and low on technical requirements. Hence it is implicitly environmentally-sensitive.
Background
Hester Reeve received a BA in Fine Art degree from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Polytechnic and an MA in Environmental Philosophy from Lancaster University. She has presented performance art works internationally over the past fifteen years. She is currently Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at Sheffield Hallam University, teaching practice and theory. She has lectured in Fine Art, Drama and Creative Writing at HMP Lancaster Castle, and was formerly freelance lecturer at Lancaster University's Centre for the Study of Environmental Change (creative project work supervision/assessment). The artist has extensive experience in giving presentations, creating workshops for varying contexts and levels of ability and is a trained facilitator in David Bohm’s Dialogue.
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