Drawing with ink and rainwater, in the confined space of walking my garden during lockdown, led me to travel in my imagination from a small garden puddle to a landscape of possibilities and a wider elemental exploration of place, of land and sea, earth and water. As I tried to contain, trace around and rescue inky edges from disappearing into the page, an imaginary world appeared. Mapping the same area repeatedly over a period of time, each Puddle World drawing shows slight shifts of boundaries and borders, echoing the impact of political and climate change. No longer able to continue my long-distance journeys, drawing along the way, I instead turned to the ground of my garden, finding in it a wider space to roam that stretched beyond its physical and material boundaries.
https://ruthbroadbent.com/uncategorized/grow-10-letters-10-drawings/
https://ruthbroadbent.com/uncategorized/place-time-material-upcoming-exhibition/
Ruth Broadbent’s creative practice is inspired by nature and ecology, and informed by her interdisciplinary academic background in art, sociology, human rights and languages. Her work draws on a fascination with line; imagined lines; lines in and across landscape; lines mapped by walking and cycling ancient tracks and waterways. Connecting with a place or doodling on a page, often leads her to dive deeper into considering how we respond to history, culture and communication. Alongside exhibiting her artwork, she teaches drawing and sculpture, is a member of drawing, walking and ecology artist networks, and creates events for organisations and festivals.