A short film exploring the complexity of personal growth and process of self acceptance through imagery projected on the persona herself, and around her. This project came out of another project called Silent Truths. In that film, plants and nature was used as a metaphor for growing out of internalised hatred and ways of thinking inherited from colonialism. With Growing Still, I aimed to expand on the idea of the mental growth of an individual, particularly in an un-romanticised way. To explore the contrary and even poisonous ways that growth can manifest and turn into chaos that is difficult to control. Much of the film is led by mellow, grounding sounds, made from converting a plants 'state' into sound frequencies. These were often accompanied by abrupt interruptions, creating a mood of unease. The theme of acceptance and surrender surfaced after diving deeper into the idea of the chaos of the mind, and I explored this further in a collaborative project entitled Gemini.
All of the images, recorded in a multitude of forests and plant centres, were projected behind and onto the persona using a green-screen and green paint. It was largely inspired by British contemporary artist, Ed Atkins' work.
