Helen Tatlow and Lizzie Wood

In residence: January 2027

Helen Tatlow and Lizzie Wood are a creative duo based in the Cairngorms, Scotland, whose collaborative practice brings together visual art, writing, environmental research and community engagement. They met in 2023 while co-facilitating a hillwalking group for migrant women resettled in the Scottish Highlands, using time outdoors to build relationships, confidence and connections with the surrounding landscape. This experience developed into a shared interest in community-led action and in exploring relationships between people, place and environmental change. Their work spans painting, drawing and research-led publishing, including mini-comics, community publications and written research. Helen is also an environmental and social policy researcher, writer and community organiser working at the intersection of land, culture and climate.

During their Tarandus residency, Tatlow and Wood will work alongside researchers studying how Svalbard reindeer are adapting to a changing climate, while observing wider changes across the Arctic landscape. Drawing together scientific research, field observations and narrative storytelling, they plan to develop a riso-printed mini-comic exploring climate change and reindeer adaptation. Their work will also consider connections between Svalbard and the sub-Arctic landscapes of northern Scotland, creating a starting point for conversations with their local communities about climate action, northern environments and our relationships with the landscapes we call home.

Read more about the Tarandus project here.