Fairy Hills
In the woods and mountains, people find contemplation and solitude. In a nature, forests people try not only escape from their routines but from themselves. In the project "Fairy Hills' I was exploring the human fascination with running away from the world around them. At the same time, I was searching for sanctuary and peace in the wilderness. The romantic idea of escape to nature was very often confronted by men surrounded by their belongings. The places are left nameless, allowing them to become symbolic of a far wide area. The people I portray in this project and their rural locations could be anywhere and could be anyone in the world. Is this escape still a dream and fantasy?
Name of the project refers to concept of the fantasy and dream. The fairy hill can be understood in Gaelic tradition as gateway of the imagination. It comes from Gaelic tradition, from classic folk tales of the Scottish highland. It is therefore no surprise that the Scottish countryside is punctuated with hills named simply Sìthean ‘fairy hill. In rural areas, stories persisted into the early twentieth century of unwary humans being lured inside the sìthein at night, only to emerge the following morning and discover that decades had passed in the outside world.
I have worked on the project for the last one year and it’s started with an idea of exploring human relationships and the nature, that later developed into more personal work focusing on the idea of an escape from society. About his fantasy longing , desire to escape (rather than reality).
Escape
I spent last year driving around Scotland looking for man that have attempted to remove themselves in different ways, people who crave an escape from both their lives and civilization itself – such as nuns, hermits, hippies– and the places where they seek refuge. Some decided to change their life for religious reasons, some for political reason, some for persona traumas.
In my practise I am interested in the concept of freedom, notions of escape, isolation and a close relationship with nature.
