Natusha Croes

My work begins at the periphery of the intuitive source that guides me to create from a direct conversation with the natural heritage as it is found in the Caribbean. Within the Caribbean mysticism I was born in and cultivating an embodied sense of awareness that
longs for a unification with the elemental forces that exist in nature. A portal comes to be. A state of reflection upon regaining a slower, eco sense of awareness, and altered means of existence. From the profoundness and power that exists within the landscape I am rebirthed in the fluidity and multiplicity of my being. Having the rock on my feet, sand in between my toes, leaves on my cheeks becomes a time machine. I am seeking to compose with, be in tune to and to listen to the wisdom that lives within my sensuous need. My body becomes the temple through which I investigate our human existence. My need to feel becomes a guiding compass. Spending time interacting, harmonizing and musicalizing my environment becomes the performative operation that defines my work. Performance becomes the vehicle towards activating an ecopsychology. I am trying to assimilate the spirit that lives within the yearning to interact and enable a state of deep listening. I am seeking a musical conversation with my environment for the sake of chanting and moving into a poetic reality, where singing and dancing becomes the means from which we explore the different planes of consciousness our human state permits. Documenting this through poetic utterances, film, video and written text that serves as a reflection and channeling of what my practice wants to communicate. I have been committed to the act of transmuting organic and ready made objects into instruments. Eager to sample, field record and move towards activating the landscape with the entirety of my body for the sake of transcending and reaching a state of altered existence. I want to be able to curate experiences and produce music that activates a curiosity towards exploring our own sense of embodied knowledge through interaction with breath, movement, nature and vocalization. My work begs for a co-existence, creating safe spaces where we can feel empowered to reconnect with our environment promoting creativity, sustainability and wellness. Through our moving bodies and the musical interaction with our environment, we begin to understand that we are inherently interconnected. This pursuit towards oneness with the environment leads me back to this ancient knowledge. The archetype of the witch or best said the wisdom that is extracted from leading a more sensuous state of being within nature brings a heightened state of awareness towards every breath, every heartbeat. I touch with a heightened state of curiosity which unravels a state of being that is transformative and is being guided by the force that lives within the elemental deities I encounter in nature. Breathing life into a state of play and curiosity that activates the child that lives within. The child-like state is one of openness. We have little to no inhibitions. Surrendering to be in tune with a sense of exploration. So there is a captivating state of curiosity that drives us forward. Therefore I coined my practice and thus a state of being as CARICIA, which translates to “caress or caressing”. The process of caressing serves as a metaphor for a more slow, sensitive, eco-conscious means of creatively and artistically engaging with our cultural & natural heritage. After specializing in performance making I used a trans-disciplinary approach to explore the human embodied condition, with a focus on our breath, ability to move with a connection to the flow of breath, the heightened sensibilities that follow, from our sense of touch, and the vocal expression of this conscious process of performing the synergy in between our inner rhythmicality and the outer reality. I have used it as a solo artist and a collective facilitator. I noticed that performing with the landscape and ecosystems as it is presented in the Caribbean is a means of remembrance, decolonizing and regaining a feminist and fluid means of becoming even more conscious of what it means to be a Caribbean identifying being. Regaining a sense of empowerment and reclamation of a more nature informed means of operating and thinking. “El sentir-pensar”, translating to thinking-feeling, becomes the means I conduct research on how we can heal and feel empowered regardless of the financial challenges we may encounter as artists and creatives from and for the Caribbean. In search of questions that instigate a deep sense of curiosity for unravelling who we are as Caribbean identities. The CARICIA artistic process is also used as a therapeutic creative method of self-exploration through 1:1 sessions & workshops. I offer my practice as a means of stimulating new ideas & conversations around the human condition. A journey of introspection and reflection. Enabling the possibility to dream and sense through the body (as an ancient vessel), a new means of perceiving and revealing reality. Manifesting a more mindful approach of self and collective understanding. Performing with our natural heritage, the elements of the landscape and the ecosystems that surround us. Be it sea, forest/mondi or city. The idea is to reveal from this interaction a new method of co-existing. In a harmonious environmentally conscious manner.