In this work, Natasha Fawzi looks towards the environment around her and tracks the way it evolves over time. Probing into almost forgotten and often overlooked natural occurrences, she was intrigued by the subtle changes within the found environments. Over eight weeks, Natasha charted and admired the ebbs and flows of her chosen specimens that she terms “nature’s installation works”.

Her guiding question for this project was “can we find wonder in the mundane things?” In a bid to surprise herself, Natasha began to retrace her daily routine and walking paths with an increased appetite for nooks and corners that may otherwise go unnoticed. Nature’s art that held her attention, however were smacked right in the middle of her walking paths – almost hiding in plain sight. She chronicled the likes of a fungus forming on a stairway wall, dust paddling onto itself at the busstop and the decoloring patterns of glass at an outdoor electrical box. Using her handphone to capture these changes, the textured nuances that she saw via close-ups intrigued her. These little “installations” gradually changed with time almost as works-in-progress in an arts gallery. At the same time, they present themselves as a microcosm of larger environments and by extension life itself. On a personal level, this project forced her to take the time to slow down – a pace different from the everyday life that encouraged her to be appreciative and contemplative.

With such astute observation, Natasha embarked on painting an artistic interpretation that charts the flow of time. In her films, Natasha focused on two “installation works” that inherently captured signs of time passing. Just as the rust is layered upon itself over the linear passing of time, it may also be read as an accumulation of one’s past – evidence of a palimpsest. If the rust offers a reflection on the past, then both the decay and emergence of life that the wooden plank supports aim to shed light on how one can potentially adapt to suit the present and future. Using soundscape as a through-line, that at times also teases the audience regarding the environment they are observing, through the films Natasha brings to the fore a sense of awe and grandeur that are often hidden in the mundane.