I wanted to exercise control over every aspect of this activity, aiming for a clean and almost mathematical compilation of an activity that is free and flowing. Clearly, that approach did not match up with my swimming intent and soon started to defeat the anxiety relief I would get from it. The need to set a date and time to be able to achieve these visualizations of data was not my ideal sketchbook experience! I was striving for neat perfection, but after some serious self-counseling I found the answer in the love I’ve always had for quick gestural sketching and collaging.

My swims allowed me to lift restraints I had set upon myself, and equally visualizing the data I collected by visiting my desk whenever I had some time off made me crave creative freedom. This experience was a true testament of spontaneous and almost serendipitously making.