Meet the Artist: Katie Fowlie
Remembering Together: Fife have appointed their artist to co-create memorials with communities. Meet Katie Fowlie.
Katie walks Fife’s coast daily foraging for sea worn treasures, finding clues to untold aspects of our social, cultural history. This coastline provides a rich source of stories which help define our place in the world, inspiring a commitment to environment and community.
She’s a strong interest in alternative ‘green’ photography and a honed ability to foster creativity in others. She supports holistic learning, engaging wider audiences and cultivating a deeper sense of place.
She believes we can all benefit from realising that the past can inform our response to present day challenges, which is what Remembering Together is all about.
Katie Fowlie
Katie says “ Community action and the arts are two of the most important conduits for Scotland’s recovery from Covid-19. Through Remembering Together we all have a chance to combine these to great effect. In so doing we can reflect, connect, and make sense of all that has been gained, as well as all that has been lost. In so doing we will be better placed to look ahead to the future with a shared empathy, optimism and deeper sense of togetherness.”
“Participants will create camera obscuras to act as the conduit for recording their stories and experiences over the last two years, resulting in a collective of cameras made up of individual experiences.
A Camera Obscura, put simply, is a ‘dark room’ projecting an (upside-down) image of the outside world. As with Covid-19, Camera Obscuras turn our worlds upside-down; the familiar suddenly becoming unfamiliar. If suspended, the camera’s imagery moves with the natural air flow and depicts our environment in a state of flux.
The carcass of each camera will provide a surface to explore their experiences through a series of wide-ranging applications; producing honest, varied, open responses to the last two years. Each camera will become a safe space where stories can be told, voices heard, experiences shared and acknowledged. They will allow for anonymity, quiet or bold expressions, whilst underlining the strengths of coming together during the most challenging of times.”