Commissioned by No More Nowt digital test commissions supported creative practitioners to test and try digital approaches to their practice, particularly for artists who are participatory and socially engaged, collaborating with the communities of County Durham.

My commission ‘Queer Digital Connections’ was a series of online workshops for queer people living in County Durham or with a connection to the County. I created four new workshops blending different aspects of queer ecology with artistic prompts and experimentation. ‘Queer ecology’, is an  interdisciplinary field that combines queer theory with ecology to challenge the idea that heterosexuality and cisgender identities are the only "natural" states. It explored and higlights the diversity of the natural world and counters ideas of “naturalness” that have been used to justify discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, as well as other marginalised populations. Queer ecology explores how concepts like nature, sex, gender, and identity are interconnected and how we can dismantle oppressive binaries in our understanding of both the environment and society. The topics of the workshops were:

• Place and Storytelling: Reflecting on the complicated and unique queer connections to place and nature.

• The Binary: Questioning "assumed" or "absolute" binaries through examples from the natural world.

• Symbiosis: Using the example of fungi and plants to illustrate that nature is a "web of reciprocity" built on collaboration, not just competition.

• Rest: Highlighting that rest is a radical act in a capitalist society and drawing inspiration from natural rhythms like winter hibernation and the month-long moult of Southern Elephant seals.

Following the workshops I created a digital zine titled, ‘Queer Digital Connections: A Queer Ecology Zine’ a digitised, summary takeaway version of their digital workshops, including ideas, concepts, exercises, and artwork created during the sessions. The publication explores queer ecology, queer art, and includes prompts for creating art.

All work was supported by co-facilitator J. Beli Friel, who also lead on the facilitation of the initial “Place and Storytelling” workshop.