Ecological artist, Bearsuit (Lucy Dewsnap) is a Barnsley based multimedia artist. Their practice is an extensive and explorative form of storytelling. At the forefront of that practice is the protection, appreciation, and preservation of the natural, the “Other”. The artist questions, ‘what is it to be human?’
Inspired by their agricultural upbringing and all natural forms, Lucy’s work revolves around the habitat in which they reside. Much like the nesting bird, its nest is reflective of its habitat; Bearsuit’s own habitat of Barnsley is a unique Urban-Rural ecosystem, it is its own composite animal.
South Yorkshire has long been a host for unusual animals and their keepers. From allotment farmers to large scale agricultural businesses, the land determines much of the activities, industries and lifestyles that continue today. Animals and nature can appear somewhat misplaced in a capitalist cycle that is often driven by monetary motives. Ostriches in the Yorkshire countryside may seem far-fetched, but this is one of many unorthodox human-animal relations that Lucy witnessed growing up. The tale followed them into adulthood with the unexpected possession of 80 blown ostrich eggs. With large companies making profits, some small farms began to experiment outside of the usual dairy and sheep farming, and ostriches, valued for their meat and eggs, attracted businessmen and farmers for the potential profit they could yield.
Ostracised questions how the animal, in this case, the ostrich feels? Are the ostriches conscious of their existence? Can this be determined from a human viewpoint?
Lucy’s tactile method of sculpting using site specific, found, abject material tells the roughage and dissonance of this connection between human, animal and it’s shared habitat. The sculpture, one of 3, responds to the land, the animal and collected conversations. Bearsuit’s work aims to challenge viewers through the dystopian observatory focus and cultivate responsibility amongst the individual and collective.
“This is not a time to have our heads in the sand”
Lucy started their professional artistic journey at the age of 14 when they sold their first painting of a horse. Their career as an artist began then and their subject matter has never strayed far away from animals. They studied art at A level, BA and MA and continue to practice as an artist, regularly leading workshops and tutor groups around methods of making.
Lucy’s interests and practice has primarily centred around nature and eco politics. Working with the land and its inhabitants, not just as subject, but as an ingredient, honouring its existence and fighting against its disappearance. They quickly realised they could do much more than just depict the subject through paint and began to see how art has a place within communities to strengthen, unify and empower individuals and collectives.
Throughout their artistic ventures to date, they have found a deeper and more meaningful way to connect with the world and the natural. Through the characterisation of Bearsuit and its homage to bears in their materialised form, Lucy has found a way to articulate tales of their personal experiences using juxtaposed narrative alongside the pataphysical realm that is reality and humour. These tales have originated from a prevalence of what Bearsuit classifies as misplaced nature, where man and “Other” are out of balance. It has been the land, of Barnsley in which they have found most interest. Barnsley is where the story began for Lucy and examples of its colloquialisms fit much bigger pictures.
“The use of land matter, matter which belongs to the land. Discarded things. There is no conclusion to my work, there is also no end point. I believe that the purpose of my work is to document and capture the struggles of nature whilst doing what I can to care for and cultivate responsibility for our wild. I am tired of human intervention and the narrative of the white cis male; don’t we think it’s time for the ostrich and the bear to tell its tale.”
