An interview with POiSON ANNA
To coincide with the changing seasons and the cooling Frieze week, the multitalented POiSON ANNA, brought the woodland into the city for a pre-construction event at Shoreditch Arts Club.
Within a symbolic installation titled Ferns Wake, POiSON ANNA conducted a haunting and spiritual performance with double bassist Maxwell Sterling and flautist Dan Langridge amongst forest debris, branches, logs, flowers, and vines which she had hand collected from what she calls her “home”.
During early discussions, it was clear that Anna intended to completely transform the construction site of the industrial warehouse into an environment which was representative of a sacred grove to house her performance.
What inspired Ferns Wake?
Oooh, well, the idea had existed in my brain for a long while… I knew how I wanted it to feel and smell. Mother Earth inspired this creation as she was the one who held me through the pain of the making of my musical project. There's a specific location where me and family have been going for years. That space has held us ALL in many ways. It's so sacred, overflowing with ferns. For this creation, I needed the essence of that space in physical form to intertwine with my sounds.
The lyrics of the songs you performed behold timeless wisdom, what do you draw on for songwriting inspiration?
The sounds and vocals are complete improvisations so the installation had to unify with that. “The beauty of surrender” is what I feel the lyrics' story is and the journey of what that means to me. Maxwell and I closed our eyes and created this and it is as simple and freeing as that, I wrote all the lyrics down months later and it really showed me how much had been holding me back. I thanked the universe immediately for connecting me with Maxwell and being able to channel words and sounds from the source of sounds and deep feelings.
Multiple people used the words ‘haunting’ and ‘breathtaking’ to describe the performance, can you expand on this?
I am in love with both of these descriptions! Haunting because the emotions I tap into through the project are from the lowest experiences. I'm surrendering a lot of hurt and pain and letting it go. The way it felt when we first created all of this music was indeed breathtaking, to say the least. I was able to hear the pain that was stored in my being and could listen to it when it was confronted and released. It works here in the UNiVERSE and I was honoured to be a channel for myself and hope to allow others to understand themselves more too.
You’ve been working with Maxwell Sterling and Dan Langridge for some time, but this was the first time you performed together, what makes this collaboration special?
Well, what makes this so special is being to create something with people I am so thankful for. Maxwell and I have been creating for over three years now, so it's been a very real and raw journey. I'm so excited to release what was created to the world! With Daniel, he is like a brother to me, the one I hand collected the natural instruments for Ferns Wake with, the one who I have made so much beautiful music with. What's amazing is Daniel joined us with his flute on the day of the show. He had heard the rehearsal the day before and he just knew and felt. Real magica!
All photographs by Alfie Dobinson.