No Nudity, Ducks or Amateur Wrestling OR

Abstract

I am a live artist who has been making performance work for fifteen years. My practice is mostly Body based, sitting somewhere within the realms of performance installation, theatre and cabaret. During this time, I have worked extensively with women living with mental health issues, and isolated groups of people. My method of socially engaged practice and exploratory devising processes encourages people to take supported risks through creating new work. Liz Clarke & Company was formed in 2015 and produces socially engaged programmes of work, informed by my own performance practice.

In June 2016 I completed an eighteen-month performance investigation sited in three South Gloucestershire libraries, commissioned by the Library Service of South Gloucestershire and funded by Arts Council England's Libraries fund.1 RE:MAPPING: New ways of thinking about ourselves engaged with people with lived experience of mental health problems and people living with dementia. The project aimed to improve mental well-being for participants, to reduce isolation and explore how library spaces can be used in new ways, promoting ownership for the communities that utilize them. The project also aimed to leave a legacy of creative resources for library staff to continue to work with. The project continued my commitment to a socially engaged practice in which I encourage people to take supported risks in creating new works, led by my own devising methods.

Notes

1 An Arts Council England rolling programme for which libraries or statutory bodies responsible for library provision can apply for funding to produce artist programmes of work that engage communities.