Potion, 2011 

Investigating plants that occupy the edge between ‘medicine’ and ‘poison’, Potion explored the delicate balance between a substance that can support health and life, or cause illness and death, depending on dosage.

Through a research project, mobile sculpture and series of events, I harvested and processed powerful plants from public sites around London - collecting stories of the medicinal and magical properties of these plants. Potion was in invitation to consider questions of potency, knowledge, power and healing; and the notion of a tipping point which depends fundamentally on a deeper understanding of the living world.

Through the project, I worked with Herbalist Melissa Ronaldson to run a series of workshops delving into the different uses of the Elder tree and with theatre-maker Pete Harrison on a performative walk through Spitalfields that traced stories of potent weeds, Nicholas Culpepper, folklore and health justice. The walk ended with a distillation experiment based on an 18th century recipe.

Potion was a commission for Artsadmin’s Two Degrees festival, a week of art and activism, climate and cuts, taking place from 12-18 June 2011.