It’s interesting how elements of your core identity are sometimes so ingrained that you almost forget about their significance. I grew up on the edge of the New Forest in Southern England and took it for granted that the flora and fauna around me were part of normal life. Only on moving away to university at 18 did I begin to realise that not everyone had had the freedom and openness of a rural life. The land outside of cities and towns, which many call ‘the countryside’, feels to me to be the grounding basis to us all. We all come from a rurality, we are each from the land, but it is time and community change that has led us away. The word ‘rural’ all too often refers to something that is lacking, yet for me it is an intrinsic component of our make up.

Taking part in the ‘Rural Facets’ project allowed the space to consider these things and to hear from others about how they interact with the rural. ‘Rural Facets’ was organised by More Than Ponies members as a response to a Visual Arts South West (VASW) open call. It involved in person and online meet ups, and culminated in a wonderful day at the very special and beautiful Lower Hewood Farm on the Forest/Devon/Somerset borders near Chard. Artists were involved from across the SW and South Coast, bringing together their practice – “a forum for critically engaged artists who identify with the / as rural or any of its many facets”.

Lower Heywood Farm has given me the opportunity to install a new, site specific ‘Rift’ within the rural environment. I was able to make the installation within the ancient sycamore tree that stands close to the farm buildings in the middle of the farm. 21 metres of mulberry paper, painted and manipulated, then draped and sculpted amongst the branches. Once placed, the ‘Rift’ became part of the tree, secured within the rurality, held in a moment of time. Oh…and it rained! I had anticipated that the heavy rain would cause the paper to disintegrate but it held its form, sodden and dripping, swaying in the wet breeze.

The installation was filmed throughout the day, capturing the moments created by this specific Rift in this specific location, and the film will be edited to provide both a record and form a presence in it’s self. The Rift is about the occupation of time and space, and the installation holds that time from then onwards. Receiving DYCP funding from Arts Council England and The National Lottery gave the support and encouragement to extend this area of my practice. Stretching my work into installation has given a significant drive and focus for exploring the Rift series and has helped me identify new areas within which to experiment. I feel more in touch with the rural that identifies part of me and feel excited to take this work further.

“A moment caught in time, a gap in the equilibrium – a rift. Entwined in the ancient tree, the crack of light offers a point where we might slip through. A window within the continuum. A schism within the rural that connects across time.” Rift:Lower Hewood Farm, Fran Farrar