This month at OmVed Gardens, we welcome multidisciplinary artist Sarina Mantle, whose practice weaves together sound, visual art, ecology, and community.
From experimental soundscapes shaped by water, birdsong and plant bio-rhythms, to visual art inspired by fractals, pattern and natural cycles, Sarina’s practice explores how creativity can reconnect us with the living Earth, inviting audiences to listen more deeply to the worlds often hidden beneath our perception.
In this interview, she reflects on her journey, the transformative influence of indigenous Amazonian knowledge, and how sound can become a space for healing, presence, and belonging.
Your practice spans sound, visual art, and ecology, what first drew you to bringing these worlds together?
For around 28 years I have been writing songs as a recording and performing artist as well as simultaneously studying art, design and textiles. Then I had a life changing ad profound experience in Peru 2014 - when I experienced voluntary work helping to preserve textile with incredibly gifted embroidery / painters from the Shipibo - conibo community who are an indigenous people of the Amazon basin in Peru. They traditionally live along the Ucayali River. It was during a sacred Plant Ceremony that i realised the healing power of sound. I found my spirit home. It was the first time i saw creativity and sound combined in a natural setting and so my two passions of sound and visual art became my purpose and service.
For your Friday Late on 12 December, you’ll be sharing an immersive performance. What can audiences expect to experience?
Audiences can expect to hear experimental soundscapes which have ambient and gentle feel, encapsulating experimental expressions of field recordings such as water, birds, rain, chimes, vocal affirmations, plantwave bio-rhythms and self-produced sounds combined with samples. They can also expect to see my visual art which accompanies the sounds.
Your upcoming workshop Listening and Creating Living Landscapes invites people to connect with nature through sound and art. How do you guide participants into that process?
I will be guiding participants through sound attunement where we close our eyes and listen to sounds, we ground and feel our surroundings and breath in gentle breaths in preparation for allowing creative energy to come through. It's a journey of seeing how pattern is connected to the natural world. Looking at repetition and variation, fractals and letting sounds and creative flow guide the art. We will be using paint and exploring patterns in nature.
Plant bio-rhythms and experimental sound often feature in your work. What excites you about translating living systems into sensory experiences?
What excites me about translating living systems into sensory experiences is the possibility of listening differently, of attuning to the rhythms and intelligences that are always present but often hidden. Plants, soil, and ecosystems have their own tempos, patterns, and movement, and through sound and art, I try to create spaces where people can feel those subtle exchanges working together
OmVed Gardens celebrates creativity, community, and care for the environment. How do these themes resonate with your journey as an artist?
My visual art and sound practice celebrates creativity, community, and care for the environment as ways of deepening my relationship with the living world. Through listening, mark-making, and participatory workshops, I invite others to slow down and experience nature as an active collaborator. Working with sound and pattern allows me to translate the subtle rhythms of plants, landscapes, and ecosystems into sensory experiences which pulls in deeper connection. Community engagement is central to this process creating shared spaces where creativity becomes a collective act of care, and where art renews our sense of belonging within the environment.