My name is Thomasin Summerford. I’m an artist and film historian.
As much as I have tried to pigeonhole myself into pursuing one direction of interests to form a business, it’s just not who I am. I can’t do it. So I created Wildeve Studios, a platform where I can explore my own art practice, research my academic interests in art history, medical history, and cinema, and then film it all!
I love drawing and making creatures out of wire and felt. I have a strange fascination with dazzle ships, and I relish playing film detective to shed light on otherwise anonymous archive footage.
A common theme through my work and interests is creativity through adversity. Be it creating dazzle patterns to protect ships during WWI, or a surgeon’s creative skills used to rebuild the faces of soldiers; how early modern sea surgeons’ medicine chests were designed; or women artists’ responses to war. I’m fascinated by people’s ability to take an awful situation and use their creative skills to help others and make innovative objects and artwork.
Hence my tag line – CREATE. FILM. RESEARCH. That’s what I want to do!