- Ecology Artist - Abigail Burt

our Featured artist is Abigail Burt the founder of Kinstinct Arts, https://www.kinstinctarts.com/

BIO - In 2019 Abigail founded KINstinct Arts, a combined art and ecology platform, from which she runs public projects and events, using creative engagement to address ecological issues.

She runs a portable foundry and is a Churchill Fellow, awarded for her research on traditional lost-wax casting in Nepal and India. She was trained in the art of medal making as the BAMS New Medallist in 2012, gaining experience in the engraving department of the Royal Mint, the archives of the British Museum, and the V&A, and studying for 6 weeks under the renowned Professor Bogomil Nikolov in Bulgaria. She has since undertaken commissions for The Goldsmiths’ Company, The British Museum, The United Guilds Service of St.Paul’s Cathedral, and The SAHGB, amongst others.

1 - Could you explain your practice?

 My practice explores the connection we hold with our environment, drawing on my personal experience alongside the broader political and social context I am situated in. I often approach this through a practice of activated public participation. Community engagement and collaboration are integral to my practice. I am also interested in using the material process in a format inclusive of the audience, and how the collaboration between artist, process, and viewer, can provoke the audience into new thoughts. I  am continuously developing my relationship with materials, exploring the possibilities of sculpting with locally excavated resources such as clay and beeswax. I am seeking to hone a more sustainable lost-wax casting practice, with my portable foundry, which I activate for artist-led projects and participatory events.

2 - Is art relevant today?

 I believe that art has always been and will always be relevant because art is a response, an interrogation, or a challenge to the time it exists within.

3 – We are always asked what other artists influence us, we want to know what art you don’t like and which influences you?
The diversity of art reflects the diversity of human beings making it- so even when I go to an exhibition and I don’t like any of the work, I enjoy the experience of thinking about it anyway, considering what it wants to say, thinking about why I don’t like it and wondering who does connect with it.
I am influenced by a whole combination of sources, from films to books, to the conversations I have with people, to the interaction of some birds that catch my eye. But to name some of my favorite artists… Marcus Coates is brilliant, I love the absurdity with which he investigates other species and the humorous, performative, and interactive nature of his practice.

4- If you could go back 10-20 years what would you tell your younger self?

 This whole being an artist thing, is a lifelong undertaking. There isn’t one particular day when you suddenly become established. You travel a meandering and intriguing path, taking a look down various unexpected and wonderful forks, dead-ends, and bad detours, but you keep moving, and you realise that as cliche as it sounds, it is the path itself that is the occupation, so truly just relax and enjoy every turn it brings, and make whatever you want to, whatever you feel like each day, not what you think you should and not beating yourself up that every single thing needs to be better or more impressive or more groundbreaking. The path itself forms the map that is your life, no one else has the same map and therefore you don’t need to worry about being original as if it might not happen, just be yourself because there is nothing more original than you being true to yourself.

5 – If you could go forward 10-20 years what do you hope to have done or not done?

Remained true to me. Made decisions that bring me joy rather than chasing ambition in directions that don’t suit me. Connected with a billion people through creative projects, shifting mindsets, helping bring attention to valid causes, influencing personal revelations, and empowering people through the medium of art. I hope to have made a lot more art, and swam in many more waters.