Charlie Henry is a sonic artist, musician, arts facilitator and child and adolescent counsellor. Much of her work explores socio-geography, narrative and the evocative nature of sound. She uses found-sound and field recordings to create layers and depths that she weaves alongside song, music and poetry. Her work is often site- responsive as she unravels personal stories, identity and a sense of place and belonging. She has recently trained, and works, as an integrative counsellor with particular interest on body-awareness and mindfulness. Her work is often contemplative, theatrical and ethereal.
Suspundu
Suspundu was originally created as a piece of sonic art fusing sounds, music, voices and textures with the key developmental mile-stones following the first 1001 days of a child’s life – from conception until two and a half. This is a visual representation of the audio work which fused interviews with mothers, sounds babies playing interwoven with music, audio work and soundscapes. Sonically it’s an audio portrait, a journey through sound.
At 6 weeks old the embryo, still smaller than a pea, starts to arrange cells in the head, brain, eyes, ears and nose. The inner ear tubes begin their complex arrangements paving the way for hearing. Around 16 weeks the inner ears are developed enough to start detecting and processing sounds and vibrations. By 24 weeks, babies will physically respond inside the womb to the sounds they hear outside – scans have shown babies turning their heads to the direction the sound came from. All sound heard inside the womb is muffled by the amniotic fluid surrounding the child so all lower frequencies and vibrations are best heard. Perhaps one of the strangest changes when a baby is born is the different quality of sound – no longer muffled any more it is piercing and stark.
Beginnings
Beginnings is a multi-media piece exploring life in the womb and the socio- geographical and emotional journey of an embryo.