S63 to L15.

Home over the years i’ve found is a feeling not necessarily a place. Although places can certainly hold where the feelings are kept. I moved to Liverpool 19 month ago and this is the longest I’ve stayed in one place since being 20. I feel as if Liverpool is the place I’ve finally come to a stop. My roots have finally been planted. I grew up in the Dearne Valley in South Yorkshire, a place I love dearly. While contemplating this brief I began seeing similarities between the two in my work, where I’m from and where I’m at. Places that hold the same feelings of home. The subtle knowing in your belly. As if you’ve been here before looking through old eyes. These images are a representation of those feelings and themes that I have unknowingly carried with me. Presenting themselves in this moment through the growing belief I never left home I came home. Home was always with me, I just never knew. 

HOME’S WERE HEART IS

Home’s were the heart is,

Carried in your chest.

Beneath bone and lung,

Behind tender breast.

Can’t be found in stone,

Nor in grass or sand.

Nests are where were born,

The ground where we land.

Choiceless hard landing,

The nest never picked.

Maybe of  bramble,

Perhaps golden sticks.

Hatch and seek wonder,

Find love and sink under.

A kiss so tender less,

But yes… Nevertheless.

Fly to new pastures,

Make a nest that’s yours.

Line it all with you,

And all you’ve explored.

By Sam Batley, S63 & L15