Mikaela Jade

This project explores an area in Woodbridge, Suffolk called Sutton. Linked closely to the human condition and our relationship with nature, ‘Walk in the Footsteps’ aims to create a journey into ones self. 

 

Edith Pretty owned the Sutton Hoo estate, less than 3 miles from Sutton Heath, an area that was excavated in 1939 to reveal an Anglo-Saxon burial ground. The more I began to deeply explore Edith’s life, her links with spiritualism, and her obsession with the land, I was encouraged by the very real feelings and energies she felt and how it became a reality.

 

Forests for a long time have been part of myths, fairy tales and folklore, bringing both joy and darkness. Exploring the forest within Sutton was magical, hosting a vast amount of silver birch trees and small moss covered mounds, it felt as though there was energy there bigger than ourselves. The project consists of photographic psychological portraits and automatic writing created in the forest, focusing on ideas around our imagination, past experiences and spiritualism.

 

When walking into the forest it felt as though you had been transported through a portal into an alternative world. The book, installation, exhibitions and images produced within this project aim to create the same narrative, as though the viewer has walked through the forest portal itself.