Becki Zaffino
Artist's Statement
Many of the places that matter most to me are remote coastlines, moorland, islands and tidal edges. Places where weather changes quickly, where human presence feels temporary and where time seems to move at a different pace. I love to explore new places but I often return to the same locations repeatedly, sometimes over many years, walking the same paths and watching subtle changes unfold.
What interests me is not necessarily the grand view. Instead, I find myself drawn to the details that are easily overlooked: grasses shaped by the wind, the slow rise of a tide, detritus carried ashore, patterns of erosion, shifting light on water or stone. These moments can seem insignificant, yet they often carry an emotional weight. They become flash bulbs for memory and ways of understanding a place more deeply.
Much of my work begins with uncertainty. I rarely start with a fixed outcome in mind. Instead, I walk, observe, collect, draw and experiment, allowing materials and experiences to guide the process.
My recent MA studies have helped me articulate something I had long felt intuitively: that we do not stand apart from the landscape observing it from a distance. We move through it, are shaped by it and, in turn, leave traces of ourselves within it. Landscape is not simply scenery; it is lived experience.
Working through drawing and painting, I explore the relationship between landscape, memory and our personal connection to the natural world. I am interested in capturing something of the experience of being there: the movement of wind through grasses, shifting reflections on water, traces left by the tide, or the way a particular place can linger in memory long after leaving it.
I often isolate small sections of larger drawings and paintings, focusing on fragments, textures and marks that might otherwise go unnoticed. In many ways this reflects how memory works. We rarely remember everything, instead, we hold onto particular moments, details and sensations that come to represent a wider experience.
My practice has expanded beyond making artwork alone. Through artist interviews, research, writing and curatorial projects such as Common Ground(s), I have become increasingly interested in creating opportunities for conversation around landscape, ecology and place. These activities have reinforced my belief that art is not simply about producing objects, but about paying attention, asking questions and sharing experiences.
At its core, my work is driven by curiosity. It is an attempt to look closely, to spend time with places and to understand what they might reveal if we slow down long enough to notice.