Maggie Rose

I am a Wiltshire-based visual artist and consultant working with people and places through commissions, projects, residencies, walks and workshops. I work with media of relevance to each place, its ecology and heritage, from ‘natural’ and recycled materials, to photographs, text, sound and video. Previous Hampshire residencies have included working with Spud (New Forest), John Hansard Museum (Southampton) and Andover Museum. My consultancy work includes writing for publication, mentoring for emerging artists/creatives, and advisory work/professional development for the arts/heritage and environmental sectors. Access and inclusion is key to all my work, with a particular focus on the value of queer and neurodivergent voices/experiences.

I help people discover the wellbeing benefits of creativity through mindful art workshops.  The focus is on the exploring techniques that calm the mind, everything is abstract so there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.  Sessions are suitable for beginners and those with experience. I encourage clients to leave perfectionism behind and simply enjoy the process of playing with watercolours, doodles and mandalas – although people love their finished pieces too! I discovered mindful art whilst in recovery from brain surgery, I passionately believe it helped me with mood, overwhelm, self-esteem, resilience and focus.  Mind Unwind combines my background of 25 years in education as a teacher and education adviser with my own lived experience.

I am a theatre performer, movement practitioner, educator, and parent artist. I trained in the UK, Malta, and Greece, and have worked on performance projects and interdisciplinary collaborations in Europe and the UK for the past 15 years. My creative practice is informed by contemporary performance devising. The work is physical, visual and poetic; it shifts between presence and representation, layers mythologies with true stories and looks for surprising uses of movement, sound and objects. My current creative work focuses on the natural world, ecology and outdoor arts. In my research and projects, I look for meaningful ways to weave the natural world into my movement language, choreographies and performance artworks.