sea salt & a spell (2020)

I feel closest to Allah when I am at the sea

I feel closest to myself when I am in the sea

I feel closest to my mother when I am away from her

sea salt & a spell (2020) is a performance within which a film is projected onto the ground, showing a body in a bath, when the water drains out, piles constellations of rocks are revealed. These are rocks which were gathered from the Norfolk coast. They are usually scattered around my home. In revealing the rocks to the audience, revealing my body and revealing my words I am creating a spell by calling up a memory.

The accompanying soundtrack is a performance of the poem Life Blood which was written about my childhood, and my mother and legacies that we continue.

I wanted to be weighed down by these rocks

Now I know they hold me fast unto myself