I am an interdisciplinary artist, researcher, and educator who has worked at YSJ since 2021. I completed a practice-led PhD at Leeds Beckett University in 2025. My thesis developed an interdisciplinary methodology that positions the body, the bicycle, and the act of cycling as active instruments of enquiry in air pollution research. I became a recognised Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) in 2016 and Senior Fellow (SFHEA) in 2025, and have been lecturing in Graphic Design for the past 11 years.
I teach on a variety of Graphic Design modules and common modules across Design. These include Graphic Design Process, Context of Practice, Graphic Design Practice 1, Major Project and Critical and Contextual Studies 2.
My PhD thesis was entitled "How can cycling be a performative art methodology to investigate, reveal, and disseminate the problem of air pollution?" Firstly, it contributes new knowledge by demonstrating how embodied, mobile sensing practices can reveal localised air quality patterns and generate affective public engagement. Secondly, it advances methodology by developing a hybrid arts-science method combining performance practice, low-cost sensors, and citizen involvement to create new configurations of environmental knowledge. Thirdly, it contributes to art practice by situating performative cycling within ecological performance, expanding how artistic practice can intervene in environmental injustice. I consider collaborations with scientists and other researchers to be a key element of my work.
I am also a research affiliate for the Institute for Health and Care Improvement at York St John University.
Bibliography and Featured Press
- 12/08/2023 Ground-breaking new map of York air pollution reveals ‘shocking’ hotspots. York Mix, Published August 2023.
- 14/07/2023 York Air Map. Art meets Science to to reveal York’s air pollution. Air Quality News, Published July 2023.
- 12/07/2023 York Air Map reveals air pollution in the city at exhibition. York Press, Published July 2023.
- 25/04/2023 Artists responding to..Issue 6 Featured Artist. Published April 2023.
- 28/06/2022 “When art bonds with science and cycling meets pollution head on, a frontier-pushing exhibition results at Blossom Street Gallery” Charles Hutchinson Press.
- 01/06/2022 ‘We aim to make York’s air pollution visible’ – Unique partnership to reveal unhealthy hotspots. YorkMix, UK.
- 01/04/2022 Featured in On Air. Performance Research Journal, Publication, UK.
- 28/03/2022 Art as a Catalyst for Scientific Discovery, YSJ Blog.
- 20/01/2022 NERC Discipline Hopping. University of York, UK.
- 02/11/2021 Airpocalypse - COP26 Blog. Institute for Social Justice. York St John University, UK.
- 25/10/2021 Coast-to-Coast Exhibition, Bikepacking.com
- 22/10/2021 York Design Week - Pollution Bike.
- 01/08/2021 Bikepacking - Exploring the Roads Less Cycled. gestalten.
Funding Awards and Certificates
- 24/03/2023 Participation Research Fund, University of York, UK.
- 24/03/2023 YESI Knowledge Exchange Fellows Scheme. University of York, UK.
- 01/01/2022 NERC Funding Award. The art-science interface in collaboration with the Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories, York University, UK.
Recent publications
My research and practice allow me to present at conferences and write journal articles and publications for book chapters. In 2022, I presented a paper at the EGU General Assembly Conference in Vienna, Austria, with colleagues from the Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories (WACL), Bryant, D, and Hamilton, J, entitled "The art-science interface: making York's air pollution visible". I have exhibited work since 2009, including four solo exhibitions.
I have recently been published in Performance Research Journal On Air Volume 26 Issue 7, entitled Airpocalypse: How can cycling be used as a performative art methodology to investigate, reveal, and disseminate the problem of air pollution? as well as Active Travel Studies journal, and a book chapter entitled Mountain Biking, Culture & Society, written in 2024. For a full list of publications, my RaY profile link is included in my profile.
