Canal Project 2024

**Part 1:**
On Sunday, 16th June 2024, I participated in the G20 Artist Collective 'Canal Conversations' project, where 13 artists creatively responded to a section of the Forth and Clyde Canal, pushing the boundaries of their usual practices. For my contribution, I swam in the canal, creating a body mural inspired by the reeds, lily pads, and duckweed. After the swim, I dried off using Japanese cotton paper, which transferred the mural into a print. The yellow pigments dispersed into the water, leaving only a delicate blueprint behind. 

This experiment allowed me to challenge and expand my usual creative approach.

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*It’s important to note that in December 2023, the G20 Artist Collective contributed to the 'A Stone, A Spark, and a Shard of Glass' exhibition at Maryhill Burgh Halls. For this show, I drew inspiration from the Forth and Clyde Canal, focusing on its historical ties to industry and social life. My piece, 'Waterlines' (2023), served as a foundation for my response in the more recent 'Canal Conversations' project.*

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**Part 2:**
'Canal Conversations Continued' at Trongate 103, 5th - 30th September 2024

All artists from the canal arts trail were invited to further explore their experiences in an exhibition. For my piece, I framed a fragment of my 'Body Print'—the only part that remained as the rest was stolen or destroyed. I also incorporated photographs by Kirsty Anderson documenting the swim, enhanced with ink paintings that echoed the foliage sketches initially painted on my body.

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