Cas Holmes is an artist and writer of Romani descent and is interested in the liminal, ‘in between’ spaces connecting land, people and place. Trained in fine art, her work combines mixed media with found materials and stitch and is best described as ‘painting with cloth’.The history and familiarity of worn cotton, linen and paper mark the passing of time informing the narratives contained within the work.
For more information, please visit her website at https://casholmes.uk/
Presentation: A Traveller Stilled – New Ways to Engage Creativity
I am an artist and writer of Romani descent with experience working in education, the health sector and with community arts projects. The urge to communicate and engage with other people lies at the centre of my practice, which has taken me all over the world. Ephemeral in nature, my interest lies in the overlooked details of everyday life, and in the liminal, ‘in between’ spaces connecting land, people and place and the stories they reveal.
In the latter part of 2021. My life partner, Derek, had a stroke, which has meant a massive change for both of us and my life as an artist-traveller.
As with many creatives, I had to adapt to working online during the pandemic and was involved with supporting communities, often in the early weeks with inadequate equipment and resources. However, I have the resilience of my ancestry, and am a quick learner. The skills I developed during this time continue to evolve as they support my practice as a carer and artist. Working with technology and adapting it to my needs has allowed me to explore different avenues for creative engagement and work towards a more inclusive and accessible form of art practice.
I want to discuss how the strategies I have in place enable me to balance creativity with care and what I have discovered about different approaches to access and engagement as part of that process: one in which access to the arts is possible through technology, no matter where you live, or the limitations you may have to travel through personal circumstances or illness.
- Working with professional partners in the creative industries: hanging exhibitions, delivering workshops and other forms of engagement.
- Societal, health and education benefits: working with online groups and projects for mental engagement and well-being.
- Blended or hybrid creative engagement, learning: In place and on-line teaching and learning.
- Not instead of, but in addition to doing things in studios, galleries and classrooms.
As an artist and a carer, creative engagement and learning remain an important part of my practice and give me the intellectual and creative challenge I need. The arts remain an important part of our human connection with the world and each other. They reflect and speak out about the things that matter to us.
This artist- traveller may be ‘stilled’ but cannot be stopped.