Sara Bowler is an artist fascinated by the palimpsest of place and how evidence of former activities and occupation resurfaces over time. Her curiosity lies in the impact of human agency on the land and how over millenia, people have used, shaped, changed and regarded it. Making art is her way of understanding the world; asking questions, generating answers that remain flexible and open to change. The forms she uses reflect the nature of her understanding, ranging across installation, sound, video and objects.

Elizabeth Masterton is an artist whose fascinations with fallibility, memory and decay are explored through encounters with places, people, objects and archives. These encounters are a stepping off point for the construction of uncanny narratives, obliquely questioning conventions of place, heritage and ownership. Since 2007, she has worked intensively with artist Sara Bowler on Goonhilly Downs, Cornwall, using collaborative approaches to develop durational, site-responsive, artist-led interventions and programmes.

In 2014 they collaborated with Professor Caitlin DeSilvey, Dr Jon Bennie and researchers from the University's Environment and Sustainability Institute on a Creative Exchange called 'Goonhilly Village Green' (CVG).

Goonhilly Downs is a unique scheduled Cornish landscape and 'A Site of Special Scientific Interest'(SSSI) where the deep past intersects with deep space. From 2015-19, Goonhilly Village Green brought people to Goonhilly in a series of artist-led events and  activities, devised by Sara and Elizabeth. The project provided an opportunity for academics and other specialists to engage with people, from the local area and beyond, who were interested in sharing and exploring experiences and knowledge of the Downs, through a series of artist-led workshops, site specific arts commissions, lectures, guided tours and social activities. You can find out more about the project, created in collaboration with curators and producers Field Notes here.

For 'Catalyst' Sara and Elizabeth are exhibiting photography from the 2015 project as well as a film recording of 'Thresholds', a five channel, surround sound piece presented at the Dry Tree standing Stone at Goonhilly in 2019. You can access the exhibition using the link below.

About 'Catalyst'

Showcasing nearly a decade of arts/science collaborations at the the University of Exeter's Environment and Sustainability Institute, Penryn, Catalyst features new work by twelve artists, all of whome have previously worked with researchers as part of the ESI Creative Exchange.