‘Native’ explores my relationship with the land and places I call my home. I have forged cherished memories within these locations throughout my entire life, and since childhood, they have been dear to me. I have always had a fascination with the human and natural history that shapes the landscape, both physically and conceptually, that we see today.
However, my curiosity for finding out how places came to be the way they are always felt disconnected here through my lack of understanding when it came to their names. They exist within a language that is 1500 years old but is no longer spoken or understood by me or the majority of people living within its land.
This series was created in pursuit of a native tongue now only spoken by the landscape itself, where there echoes a collective memory, hidden in the names of places. The movement and passage of water within the land and towards the shore became a key component to my practice, as its ability to form and shape the landscape over vast amounts of time mirrors the ever-evolving role of language and history. As well as this, making cyanotypes from individual pieces of natural matter and items I have ritually collected whilst within these places, allows for the physicality of the landscape itself to be considered.
Biography:
Emily Thornhill is a photographer and visual artist based in the South West of England. Her practice is heavily influenced by her love for the natural world and caring for everything within it through a childhood spent in rural Cornwall. Her personal work is created from an interest in religion, philosophy and history and explores the relationship between humanity and our surrounding environment. She enjoys experimenting with alternative photographic processes and found photography by collecting and incorporating organic substances and natural matter into her practice. The extensive research into her subjects that spans across literary, historical, philosophical, geographical, political and personal references is crucial to fully understand the themes and contexts she is working within and contributing to.
