The Collaborative Journey of Elaine Murray & Mara Marxt Lewis

_LANDSCAPE AROUND US

_WINTER AT HOME

_WEATHER SITUATION



_SHARING MEALS

_OUR FURRY FRIENDS

_CIRCLES AROUND US

_EXCHANGING MATERIALS

6_MATERIALS In our artwork we used materials that went beyond the existence of simply a medium, as they had the power to enhance our work by imbuing it with profound meaning. Rather than traditional paints, sculpting materials, or other drawing instruments, we selected things like wood, wire, cloth, rubber, paper, plastic, concrete, wax, and lots of organic materials with extremely flexible qualities which made the m very fun to work with. The forms, structures, and textures of our creation reflect both our individualities and the characteristics we share between us.

7_FORMAT During our many conversations and exchanges, we began to address the format and materials we might use within our collaboration so that we could achieve a sense of shared creative vision.We discussed the possibility of a format through which we shared the space, developing something that could provide some consistency and continuity for when the works were brought together. This is why we settled upon a grid of individual pieces to be brought together and installed in the landscape. Over the course of twelve weeks we each completed a building block - one 30 x 30 cm square that fills a square on our quilt of artworks. The grid system really allowed us to experiment freely within the framework so we could have individual freedom but still aim for a coherent end result.

_INSPIRATIONS

_MY BUILDING BLOCKS

_MY BUILDING BLOCKS

_MY BUILDING BLOCKS

8_LOCATION Loch Cluanie is a loch in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland at the south-east end of Glen Shiel. It is a reservoir, contained behind the Cluanie Dam. Elaine and I referred to the actual location for our installation as a natural gallery since the shore we selected looked as if the spot had been destined for our purpose. After meeting at the Cluanie Inn car park we set off in our separate cars to find a suitable site to install our works. At our chosen area we left our cars in the layby and headed down to the shore of Loch Cluanie, walking until we found a place that we felt we responded to.We reflected later that, although we met in the carpark 10 minutes earlier, our meeting and the collaboration really began here as we walked and talked carrying our boxes of artworks as though part of a procession.We feel this was an important aspect within our creative journey that enabled us to move on to the next stage of installing the artworks.

_LOCATION

_INSTALLING

_INSTALLATION

_INSTALLATION DETAILS

12_LETTER TO MY COLLABORATOR Dear Elaine, Over the last 12 weeks we embarked on our collaborative journey where each of us brought our own set of values, philosophical foundations, knowledge and shared these too, as they often overlapped and we found similarities. At the beginning, our journey of collaboration started with a fairly simple idea, to identify and explore our unique relationships to place - our methods of interaction, the roots we each have, and the meaning of place. The idea became much larger than we originally envisioned and it grew because we started to collaborate by developing a shared vision, a work format, and importantly we got to know one another through our long conversations and written communications.We both made commitments with the resources we had such as time, meeting space, materials, and even the cost of transportation when we eventually met in person. Our unique backgrounds; the mediums we work in, the education we received, our interests started to come together, as we defined our roles and responsibilities in our collaborative work and held one another accountable for meeting them. A big reason we were so successful with accountability is the weekly meeting, or check-in, we held via Webex. It was such a nice reference point each week to speak with you face to face, if only via the internet, reflecting on our individual and collaborative progress, as well as talk through ideas and next steps. Talking things out really helped to avoid miscommunication and our relationship quickly developed into a dynamic partnership built on trust, honesty, and an open dialogue. (cont'd on next page)

12_LETTER TO MY COLLABORATOR Overall I see our collaboration as a successful endeavour that we can be very proud of.We didn’t just work with each other, we worked together through a shared space, or a shared place that we created together. Shared space—whether physical, virtual or digital—is where we agreed to jointly create, manipulate, iterate, capture and critique the representations of the reality we sought to discover in our work. In other words, our decision to collaborate generated ideas that otherwise would never have been created. Personally, the highlight of the entire collaboration with you was of course making our real-world journey over land, over sea for you, to meet in-person at Loch Cluanie. Suddenly, in that moment we both got out of our cars in the parking lot (after a very long drive!) I felt like we entered a new dimension in our collaboration - it all became more real and it was incredible to be working side by side, installing our artwork in the Scottish highland landscape.We took risks together, arriving at the beside the loch and shared decision making equally when scouting the location. Our artwork fell into place perfectly with the beach setting; like the spot had been destined for our purposes. After hearing so much about your personal life and your family, and after me telling you all about mine, it was great to meet your mother and my husband Tyler to join us as well. Even in the face of the pandemic we could work within travel restrictions and come together, even if just fora day. (cont'd on next page)

12_LETTER TO MY COLLABORATOR As we entered into this partnership, we both transformed; our own identities and how we managed control, who owned what, and the style of our individual work was almost invisible as our work took on a new identity, new style, and authorship was a shared role. This doesn’t take away anything from us as individuals, rather our partnership in this collaboration has really been a growing experience, not only growing together but in the sense that our individual knowledge, skills, and perspective has been enriched by the journey.Working with you on this project has expanded my own practice and I can take what I’ve learned into the next collaboration. Sincerely, Mara