Natalie Sharp: Open Fund for Music Creators
Nat Sharp presents MARRA!
I am a disabled artist and musician, a key figure in what the Quietus calls ‘New Weird Britain’. My work is a 360 degree, multi-sensory, gesamtkunstwerk approach to live musical performance which includes; sound design, moving image, lighting, stage and prop building, performance art, inflatable costumes, body painting, prosthetics, large scale tufting tapestries, custom built playable spine instruments, body painting and fully immersive crowd interactions. My career as an artist began seven years ago with my debut LP ‘Trifle’. Major projects and residencies from the last five years include: ‘BodyVice’ my experience of living with chronic pain. through a series of staged performances involving MRI scanners, playable spine synthesizers and unravelling nervous systems. This piece toured extensively across European festivals: Sonar, Le Guess Who? Sonic Acts, Supernormal. Tremor Festival, Azores Portugal – monthly residency creating site specific sound walks around two locations, inspired by Heironymous Bosh’s Garden of Earthly delights.
Late Junction Christmas special – Musical Collaboration with faUST for BBC Radio 3. The pandemic has since adapted my practice, now expanding beyond touring and live performances. My most recent project ‘Marra’ a deep interrogation into the dialect and ceremonies of West Cumbria and the Seychelles. I’ve become deeply fascinated by the natural environment and its capacity to heal and transform the body, leading me to research the qualities of coastline with a project called ‘ Spume’ A giant seashell lives by the sea acting as a listening device.