"I was cycling home on this one particular occasion, totally consumed by meditations on the efficiency of energy into movement, having just met a girl who was going to build a newer, faster bike than my current ride when this thought dawned on me, riding is like poetry in its purest form, a direct energy translation, poetry in motion... … …. ….

At that time I was always rushing from one day into the next, so busy impacting on life, conjuring up realities, my alchemy fearless, no boundaries to reign it in. I was sweeping out from an earlier pose, bold paint strokes that could take you right into the present second, giving life to hidden gestures, thinking that would evolve the heart.

And then, take off. On days spent alone, dreaming about alternative ways to live, I would imagine taking off on my bicycle and careening the lonely streets of this town as though it were a mind. This universal mind I was talking of was a boundless place, nothing off limits. And the more I challenged adopted conventions or concepts of the self, the more I willed this thing into life. If at this stage the mutations of reality existed in thought only, I thought let this be the first place to matter, the mind and its capacity to manifest reality. Ira Ryan, Richard Sachs and all the
other legends in place."

Inspiration behind the story:
The brief was adolesence/adulthood. That was it. I decided to write about my experiences living at the age I was at the time - 26 years. I drew on my twenties as a period of emotional awakening and self-analysis. I wanted to capture something of the struggles I went through whilst also capturing the universality of these experiences. I wanted to create an energy through the progression of words which mirrored that same youthful energy one feels as they navigate through their twenties, and yet ground it in hard realities such as disappointment, hurt and heartbreak. I was inspired by a short story called 'A Rapha Continental bootleg: Riders, Builders' By Lodovico Pignatti-Morano, published by The Everyday Press. You'll see that in my references to cycling. I'm also very moved by the works of Beckett, pieces like 'Not I' or 'Texts for Nothing #8' which explore magnified notions of the self.

What mediums do work in?
I paint, draw in pencil, pen and ink. These can range from a canvas to diary drawings and detailed, laborious drawings in pencil or pen on paper. I craft books by hand using paper, leather, thread, often using my own life experiences as subject matter. I collect paraphernalia and detritus and use this within my work – whether it is a handbound journal displaying the remnants of a relationship in photographs, emails, notes to self, poems and drawing or an alternative biography made up of my scraps and souvenirs, anything from Tesco receipts to tobacco packets, correspondence from the hospital or old scribbled to do lists. I like to create installations by putting all these outcomes together: the self-portrait hangs on the wall by the table – the diary is open on the table, my empty chair inviting the viewer to sit down and peruse. My half-smoked cigarette sits in an ashtray to the side. There are some books too, 'Diary Drawings' by Bobby Baker and 'Appointment with Sigmund Freud' by Sophie Calle. There is also an old chocolate box, embroidered with messages of lost love. The scene is set for the audience to recreate 'me'.

And themes? I like telling the story of people and I suppose I always start with myself. I see my story as a surrogate one, in place of everybody's private life. I like the idea of making it a public, shared story and experience. I use each medium, often allowing them to meet, in order to create the spectacle. I want to bring people into this that world I am reconstructing, a work entitled 'More than Myself: these animals in me'.

Exciting projects coming up?
I recently wrote a diary which I shall be publishing next year, with the outcome a book incorporating genuine diary entries alongside poems. I am involved with collectives The Fabelist and Pop-Up Circus. For The Fablist I have been busy making an art book of my detritus which tells an alternative story about living. I am also participating in The Fabelist Story a Day workshops which bring artists of different disciples together to illustrate stories they've overheard. The Fabelist project work is set to be exhibited in an exciting group show in a London gallery early next year. Pop-Up Circus is also spreading it's wings, creating platforms for exhibition and cross-disciplinary creative collaboration.

See more of Zoe's work on her jotta portfolio: HTTP://zoecatherinekendall.JOTTA.COM