Jayne Wilton

Drawing Breath

Drawing Breath series uses dark room processes to capture the trace of a breath as it moves across a surface, creating evocative records of an unseen moment. 

Breathe

Most of us will have experienced playing with the interaction of our breath on shiny surfaces such as windows and mirrors, allowing us temporary fields of condensation in which to doodle thoughts or messages. In emergency situations a mirror or shiny surface is held in front of the mouth of a subject to confirm whether or not they are breathing. The Breathe series makes use of these dynamics.

I Am Here Now

Whilst on a Leverhulme Funded residency at Brunel University, Professor Peter Hobson established an optical set-up in a laboratory where we could explore the recording of the breathing gestures and spoken words. During the residency we recorded John Robinson, Brunel’s Finance Director speaking the words ‘I am here now’, Robinson was intrigued by the significance of this statement particularly in relation to my indexical quest to make thoughts take shape and transient breathing gestures permanent. Speaking about the collaboration Robinson said:  “’I am here now` is completely dependent on context for its meaning.  Yet, when this phrase is thought, the statement has the same powers of universality and eternal truth as objective scientific statements.  `I am here now´ like `2+2=4´ or `Water is H2O´is true wherever, whenever or by whomever those statements are thought or said.” 

Breath which turns towards itself

Using the molten fluidity of glass to play with the full breathing cycle. 

Conversation Piece: Concern

I became intrigued as to what happens within the conversational frame and so started to explore making visible what happens as we bounce words and thoughts against each other: Making such a series of provocative and emotive forms which are the physical shape of words as they emerge from the mouth allows a dialogue about the impact of the words we use to articulate desire and make connections. 

Vent

Animation of singing for breathing group performing a round of warm up exercises

Vent, visualizes the dynamics of interaction between the three sung parts of a round composed by Singing for Breathing leader and composer Jo Foster, in which listening to the rich texture of the combined voices within each group is as important as watching the physical dynamics unfold. I was struck to realize when creating this animation that the rhythm and dynamics of the piece were acting as a metronome for my own breath, an index of how deeply collaborations engage us at a personal as well as a professional level.

Child’s Sigh

A Commission to create a year of Covers for the Respiratory Lancet in 2016