2 May 2026

A brilliant start to go gently into the garden of [im]possible dreams. We met our cohort for the first session at PrimeYarc (originalprojects;, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk). And what a delightful group of people they are! Together, we gently explored our individual relationships with the natural world – so many overlaps! People were also welcome to rest at any time during the session.

This first session was an opportunity to experiment with decalcomania – a blotting process for creating prints by pressing paint between two surfaces (e.g.: paper or glass). You then pull these apart to reveal unique, often chance-based patterns.

We experimented with acrylic paints and brusho; with extraordinary and beautiful results. The activity held a space open for creativity and dialogue – to think about our individual and collective relationships with nature. What is nature? What is nature to you? What are our experiences of nature? Are we a part of nature or separate from it?

In our linked online session, we explored our decalcomania creations as landscapes, gardens or maps – following in the footsteps of surrealist artists like Ithell Colquhoun. We considered shapes and patterns in our artworks. And asked where our artworks took us. What did they remind us of?

We chatted about psychogeography and mapped our interactions with the natural world onto our decalcomania artworks. Some interactions were real physical experiences, and some were fantastical imaginings. People logged all sorts of things, from favourite plants and nature sounds to imagined worlds.

…go gently into the garden of [im]possible dreams explores intersections between nature, chronic illness, and possibility.

It celebrates slowliness, different ways of being in the world, and creating together.

It is led by *conditions apply – a collective of artists based in East Anglia who all identify as living with chronic illness and/or as Disabled. We’re working in collaboration with originalprojects;, Norfolk and Norwich Festival and Unlimited.