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Nature as Sanctuary The Theme Zine Issue 2 Viktoriia Hunina Message

Hugo Francker‘Closed eyes’ is part of a series of photographs taken ondifferent journeys to the north of Norway. Through the making ofthese works Hugo lets their body find peace by grounding on therocks and in the water. Opening up to the interconnectedness ofall life, Hugo investigates different ways to rebuild and maintaina reciprocal relationship between body and nature.

Kneeling in Fog He is surrounded by insipidly thick fog. It collects aroundhis waist and seems to travel up his body until it reaches hisneck. He can feel his throat tightening, convulsing. His jawis rigid yet still it chatters. The ground is wet underfoot. It is at this point that hecan feel the dampness of his knees, which press into the softgrass. The coolness of the air, the dew collecting atop theblades of grass – he knows it’s the morning. He tries to focus, but the thickness of the fog obscureshis vision and thoughts. There is nothing ahead except a greyveil of water vapour, with a tinge of red that lingers beyond.His temples start to ache. He can see nothing but the ground immediately around him.There are thistles which bravely stand above the tallestblades of grass. Their young purple flowers are swallowed bythe grey, overcome. There’s something there. He can feel the presence of it,and yet he cannot see it. The fog rejects his enquiring eyes,it obscures his sight to the point of nervousness. His throat is lumpy. His breathing stalls. There is theunmistakable sound of careful footsteps that press into thesoft ground, a squelching underfoot. He cannot move. No partof his body accepts his instinct to flee, so he remains.

~ Jacob Poole From the density before him, stands a silhouette, theunmistakable outline of something human. But without a face,there is no recognition, without a voice, there is noaccountability. The silhouette does not come closer. There istime for confusion, unease, and eventually… anguish. He is overcome. He wishes then that he’d stopped to look,to think, to listen, to heal. There are memories. A shear edgeoverlooking a valley. The horizon painted dramatic shades ofred and orange. Below him, yes below, a bird of prey. Itcircles a woodland. The tops of the trees look like blades ofgrass from the precipice. Elsewhere, there are the flowers. New beginnings. Thesnowdrops, daffodils, crocuses, and hellebores. They sproutout of the ground in the obscenest places. He could notimagine a world without them. The new light exposes the silhouette. A stern face. Theyare dressed in wool and linen, damp from the lifting fog.Beady water collects on their wispy hair like sweat. No words are spoken. Instead, they exchange a moment ofpeace. The stern face relaxes and then turns to walk throughthe meadow towards the treeline. Left to ponder, he remembers that he had been kneeling inthe fog, but now he stands to face nature’s unwaveringmagnificence.

PlayLAND is an immersive interactive installation by digital participationartist, John Whall, which brings the world of outdoor play into the gallery andinvites you to immerse yourself in a relaxing, playful world.PlayLAND is designed to be adaptable to new locations through workshop activitywith local young people and community groups. Each group will be able to seetheir work on display and influence the interaction.While interactive, the installation also offers the sanctuary of nature througha calm, supportive and inclusive environment. Audiences can relax and beabsorbed in the sights and sounds of the natural world around them. This isespecially important for audiences that are limited in their experience of thenatural world due to disability. The installation uses a combination of large-scale projection, screen-basedvisuals and physical objects, all of which can be mixed and matched to a varietyof locations and set ups. Find out more about the artwork at www.johnwhall.artJohn Whall

Safiyah Hamdy

Julia Zięba

This pen drawing was inspired by Julia’s experience of a rural Polishupbringing, slavic folklore and the 19th century novel, 'The Peasants',by Władysław Reymont, which describes the intricate relationship betweenhumans and nature through four seasons of the year in a small Polishvillage community. “My own backyard provided a sanctuary, a solace, a space for meditationfor a lonesome soul like myself. The local wildlife, be it foxes or deerwould make a confused appearance every so often. I enjoyed pickingraspberries and fresh produce from our own little field or staring at thechickens picking away at the earthworms. The chickens, seemingly tamed byhumans yet emanating some sort of primal energy.”“It was not just me, of course. In 'The Peasants’, the local village folksee nature as a generous, sometimes cruel provider of nourishment whosecycle they depend on. Whilst not a whole lot can be salvaged from Slavicmythology, there is a number of interesting characters. One of them,‘klobuk’, can take a form of a rooster. A demonic entity which couldprovide luck and a friendly presence to a household. The demonic lady wasinspired by another demon, ‘poludnica’, which could take on the form of abeautiful woman, luring passer-by peasants to their demise.”

Bekah GraceBekah is a hobby gardener, illustrator and bumble bee advocate. “I love spending time in nature - it’s restful and relaxing. It’s a sanctuaryfor me - away from the noise of city life and the business of work. But, justas nature is a sanctuary for me, I have a responsibility to create asanctuary in nature for creatures in need. My photograph (above) shows the sanctuary I helped create for bumblebees inmy garden - especially red-tailed bumblebees which are facing a devastatingdrop in numbers.”“When I photographed this red-tailed bumblebee I didn’t know their numbersacross the UK would drop by 74% in 2024. So, this memory and photograph feelspecial to me. When I garden, the most important thing to me is that I’mcreating a safe space for pollinators to thrive. When our natural worldthrives, we thrive within it.” If you would like to learn more about bumblebees and discover ways in whichwe can help them, follow Bekah’s page @bumblebuddies on Instagram.

Olha Shulhina

Viktoriia works in the monotype technique, where nature itselfbecomes a co-creator. Each print is unique, impossible toreplicate—just as no two leaves or petals in nature areexactly alike.“Nature as a place of peace, refuge, and silence.”Viktoriia Hunina

In Summer 2024, the daily, brutal shelling of the Kharkiv region (Ukraine) ledto disastrous fires. Smoke and ash covered the city like a fog, making itimpossible to breathe. The fires burned forests, fields, entire villages. This mixed media work, "Breathing Among the Ashes" poses the question: will we(humankind) maintain our connection with nature or will we continue to breakit, destroying the foundation of our existence? Olena Yemelianova

Tetyana VlasenkoTetyana beautifully captures the exotic eleganceof the ‘Lodoicea maldivica’ plant. Bright andvibrant tones bring to life the distinctiveshapes of the palm’s leaves and fruits. Morethan a depiction of nature, it is a reminder ofour responsibility to it. The watercolourpainting invites us to stop, admire and reflecton the role we play in preserving the world’srarest wonders.

Hummingbird I hear the hummingbirdas I weed by the feedersfeel the force of his wingspercussing the air. The seconds when our tasks coexist— his necessary, mine only seeming so —swell with portent, with dreams of flight. I hope for a glimpse as he files away— the wonder of his red throatthe marvel of his size —listen util his sound is mergedwith the rustling of the woods.~ Weslea Sidon

Safiyah Hamdy

SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder - or milder forms of the winter bluesaffects many people in the UK. When the days shorten and sunlight is largelyabsent, feelings of anxiety, lethargy and low mood can be overwhelming. I amone of those sufferers. A trip to the Arctic Circle in the Polar Night (whenthe sun doesn’t make it over the horizon) got me thinking about my dislike ofthe dark. Laplanders have negligible levels of SAD. How could that be whenthey live for weeks in dusk and darkness? The answer, I discovered came inthe form of the light-giving snow that lies on the ground throughout winter.I also discovered Laplanders continue to go out in nature regardless; cross-country skiing, fishing, hunting, snow-shoeing and cycling, even in theblackness of night. When not outside, they made their homes cave-like andcosy with candles, blankets, lit woodburners and comfort food. Back in the UK I wondered if it was possible to learn from the Laplanderswithout that light-giving snow. Snow is rare in the UK, even on higherground, but I realised we had something else that provided light: 11,000miles of coastline. On sunny days, light reflects off the ocean, offering upa dazzling brightness. There is nothing more healing than walking along abeach or coastal path, listening to the sound of seabirds, the ebb and flowof the tide and drinking in the light of the glistening ocean stretching outto the far horizon. Even on dark stormy days, the ocean shakes us out of ourlethargy, transferring it’s energy to us. And in the darkness of night, abeach walk is a magical thing, the moon creating a silver path across thewater, the ebb and flow of the tide more keenly heard. Over three years I monitored my feelings in winter. I set out to rewrite thenegative narrative of the season in my head. I noted what worked best for me.The answer was being out in nature, whatever the weather. When days are short- especially for those working a 9-5 job, it may seem there’s no opportunityfor daily walks, but I discovered nighttime walks helped me through my winterblues. When the Earth is hidden by the dark, the night sky reveals itself inall of its magnificence: feast on the planets - Venus, Saturn, Mars - andlearn the names of the constellations. Healing the Winter Blues in Nature~ Helen Moat

Thrill at the sight of a meteor shower or the moon while threading through apine forest. When your sense of sight is largely taken from you, you tune intoyour other senses. The babble of a stream seems louder and sharper and moremusical, your awareness of the rustle of wildlife around you amplified. Oncewhen walking with friends in a dark woodland, we heard a rustle, then watcheda young badger stumble out of the undergrowth.In the third year of keeping a winter journal, I travelled to Japan to findout how they deal with the season. Their art - washi screens, paintings andcraftwork demonstrate the Japanese give all the seasons equal weight and love,the four seasons depicted side by side in the arts. As a deeply philosophicalsociety, they accept the circular nature of life and death, appreciating thefleeting nature of the seasons down to celebrating the brief beauty of thecherry blossom season. Our Neolithic and Bronze Age ancestors understood thistoo. They lived closely with the seasons, gathering up reserves at harvesttime and hunkering down in the darkness of winter. In modern British life withall its artificial light, we move from house to car and from home to workplacewith little awareness of day and night. We often don’t notice the wax and waneof the moon or the subtle changes in our landscape over the weeks and months.It’s easy as a result to lose touch with the circular nature of the seasonsand how they complement each other. We don’t change our own rhythms, sufferingas a result of it. Winter is a time to slow down, take stock, reflect on ourinner journey, rest up - and of course take relaxing rambles in the outdoors -storing up our energy for spring like plants and animals. Living in thenorthern hemisphere we are blessed to have four seasons. When we learn torecognise how they complement each other, we start to appreciate winter’sworth.Of all the lessons I learned over the three years I kept my journal, the mostvaluable is that without the darkness we cannot appreciate the light. InScotland, where I now live, the interplay of dark clouds and streaming lightis thrilling, and I love how snap-short days give way to long, long summerevenings. Yes, without the dark we cannot appreciate the light.Read more in Helen’s book, ‘While the Earth Holds Its Breath: Embracing the winter season’

From art to poetry, photography tostorytelling, this zine is a celebrationof the diverse and profound ways naturenurtures and inspires.At its core, The Theme Zine is aboutconnection - connecting with the themesthat shape our world and with thecreatives who bring those ideas to life.We hope this issue leaves you inspiredand invites reflection about thesanctuary that nature can provide.~ Curated and edited by Alice Whitehead ~ Featuring:Viktoriia HuninaHugo FranckerJacob PooleJohn WhallSafiyah HamdyJulia ZiębaBekah GraceOlha ShulhinaOlena YemelianovaTetyana VlasenkoWeslea SidonHelen Moat

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