What is your graduation project about?

The piece is a contemporary sound installation, consisting of a bathroom sink and interactive elements (a toothbrush, bar of soap, etc.) which trigger sounds in the users’ headphones when used in their ordinary manner.

It’s a commentary on the dichotomy of the body as a cultural symbol versus its actual existence as a flawed, fleshy body which requires care.

I find that sound art and other technologically informed art is traditionally very serious in its conception. From the start I hoped that interacting with this piece would be a slightly silly undertaking, highlighting the almost absurdity of the body, its nature and its necessary care.

How do you best like to work?

However I can and a lot! I've been a bit of a beast over the last year in terms of the hours I've been working. I work in a variety of places, as my piece inherently combines many artistic disciplines.

I have been utilizing spaces which I never even knew existed, such as Edinburgh College of Art’s Wood Workshop and the UCreate Makerspace at the University’s Main Library. It’s been wonderful working in these spaces as I have been able to gain entire new skillsets and learn new artistic ways of thinking.

Can you tell us about some of the things which inspire you and your work?

I am inspired by and committing to capturing and assigning meaning to every-day human experiences. I work under the notion that sound can capture human experience with more nuance and depth than the written word and combine contemporary research practices and artistic methods to put together pieces which showcase this. I am inspired by the unexplored possibilities offered by sound.

How have the events over the past two years affected your work?

Sound is normally an inherently shared and social art form due to its delivery, so becoming quite solitary over the last two years while I’ve been developing my understanding of sound as an art form has really changed how I understand its applications.

I created a sound walk during one of the really difficult peaks of Covid which is very much a time capsule of that period. The piece explores existing and moving through nature in a disabled body and was inspired by the rhetoric of the time which pushed nature as an "all-healing" endeavour.

Have you got plans for after graduating?

Yes! I’m heading to Northwestern University in the United States to study an MA in Sound Arts and Industries, focusing in sound ethnography, and I’m planning on pursuing a PhD in sonic research in the coming years. I’m also extending my written research dissertation into a long-term project which will eventually take form as an audio essay.