the field was an independent artist co-living and co-practicing space based in rural Derbyshire, 2020 to 2024.

I first joined the project when it was called DARP (Derbyshire Artist Residency Project) in 2021. As a group we moved through different iterations of the space and project, confronting many challenges, experimenting, living together, learning and creating.

The embedded experience of co-living and co-practicing has shaped not only my relationship to making work, but also how to engage creatively and critically within a wider communal ecosystem. Particularly how smaller networks and unfunded project spaces can achieve their goals, meeting their own and each other’s needs in creative ways. This whole experience helped me learn an acute sensitivity to group dynamics, good communication, the ability to move through challenges together, and a commitment to reciprocal learning.

At The Field we worked together on exhibitions, events, workshops and residencies. The projects I most enjoyed facilitating were a programme of micro-residencies for international artists and writers.  As an independent group, we have the freedom to choose to work with & invite artists to our place. We actively reached out to early-career artists who have not been on residencies before, and whose work might not be as visible to more established programmes. We provide space and time for self-development; exploring co-organisation, reflection, experimentation and connection. In this way we form lasting, genuine bonds with the artists we want to support and building a resilient network of collaborators and friends across the globe.

Alongside that we have hosted workshops for students, taken part in group shows, and collaborated with various collectives and organisations across the Midlands and the North of England. We host a monthly crit where we invite more established artists and organisations into the space, also hosting local artists who want to share work or participate.

Stitch Enbytch, a weekly sewing circle for trans and nonbinary people hosted at The Field, is a space where skills, experience, and queer community support are shared. We have taken workshops to Sheffield (GUT LEVEL) and Nottingham (Nottingham Pride @ Otoka): for example on Valentine’s Day I taught people how to make sexy underwear, whatever sexy means to them.

The Field’s physical location has been closed (the landowner wanted to empty the property and build a collection of luxury flats), but the psychic and spiritual connections of the space still remain.

To see more, visit:

https://www.instagram.com/thefieldthefieldthefield

https://www.instagram.com/darp.media