I, Elena, first met Stella Whalley at an the Obras artist residency in Portugal, where I learned so much about what art can be and how different artists work. Stella struck me as an artist who uses everything that comes into her life as material for her work, and even years later, I remembered her story of how she used a hereditary shake of her hand as part of a piece of video art. Stella describes herself as an artist who produces work in response to space and place, to architecture and environment, to objects and materials, archaeological references and archives, and to local histories and narratives. She has exhibited at Empire II of the Venice Biennale 2017, at the Nakanojo Biennale Japan 2015, the Wilson Gallery Cheltenham, the Victoria & Albert Museum London, and the Birmingham City Art Gallery. In this first part of our conversation, we talk about using your mistakes, getting audience feedback, and how a disaster transformed Stella's life and work. Stella talks about releasing the personal attachment to what you are creating in order to be able to see everything that happens to you as material for your work. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/outofrichdarkness/message