The following videos have been created in the process of exploring themes and concepts in my expanded visual art and storytelling practices.

“With a creative trinity, mind, body and spirit, one must yield something back to the generous earth”, Eleanor Dark, (1936). The National Writer’s House, Varuna, was gifted as a retreat for writers in 1989 by Mick Dark. It was initially the home of Mick’s parent’s, the Australian writer Eleanor Dark and her husband Dr Eric Dark. The staff, family and caretakers of Varuna inhabit the liminal spaces behind the scenes, providing a unique, creative environment. Finding the light through Dark explores the fleeting, dreamlike state where ideas, words and stories are formed. While I was on a Western Sydney University writing retreat at Varuna, I was aware of the support that allowed myself and others to concentrate on their creative practice. In this video, I combine the sketches produced during the residency alongside conversation fragments and presence of Eleanor Dark encountered in the hallways, books and shadows of Varuna. Noel Burgess’s haunting sound track, A Blow to the Heart, evokes this creative dreamlike space where creativity is enabled and encouraged to flourish.