How WOM Collective Blends Nature, Community, and Female Empowerment

By Daniella Angulo

At Paint the Change, we are passionate about promoting diversity in the arts. Diverse artists engage more audiences through public art, bringing people together to use their imaginations and ask new questions. We hope to use this space to feature artists, organizations, and collectives doing important work in art and social justice.

I recently had the pleasure of discovering WOM Collective, a London-based group for female street and contemporary artists. “Rooted: A Street Art Journey Into Nature,” sees WOM using the public nature of street art to ask viewers to rethink their relationships with the environment. In a quickly changing climate, imagining different ways for us to interact with nature is critical to finding a new balance. To learn more about how they bridge femininity, nature, and art, keep reading!

Founded in 2019 by ELNO, Lours, Carleen De Sözer, and Raquel Natalicchio, WOM Collective aims to inspire fellow women in public arts. Street art especially is a male-dominated field. The nature of street art means that artists typically go out to create by themselves, at night, in public spaces. For obvious reasons, women may not feel safe doing this. This creates significant barriers to women’s participation in street art. WOM Collective makes this world more welcoming to female artists by building spaces for creative women to come together.

With over 50 members, WOM Collective encourages collaboration between artists and communities. They are known for hosting “Paint Jams.” Described as “street art life performance,” they take place in different areas of London throughout the year. WOM members come together to paint in public, inviting locals to participate and leave their mark as well. By creating in public spaces, these women artists make a powerful statement, showing that both art and these spaces belong to everyone. They empower local communities to do the same—no matter their background, gender, or identity.

I had the privilege of attending WOM’s latest exhibition launch, “Rooted: A Street Art Journey Into Nature” at FUSEBOX, where they are wrapping up their time as this multi-functional art space’s Community in Residence. Connecting “urban spaces, nature, and the universe,” ‘Rooted’ uses street art to engage communities beyond traditional galleries. Encouraging self-reflection on our own relationships with nature, the pieces on display repurpose recycled materials, play with typical depictions of natural elements, and challenge viewers to rethink our place in the natural world.

Upon entering the exhibit, I was struck by 7th Pencil’s (@7th_pencil) “Aerosouls,” which shows spray cans with plastic wings rising from a pile of empty cans. Floating above and below the painted woman and the viewer, this piece questions what we think of as disposable.

The path you take through the art leads to a semi-enclosed space with meditative music from vibraphonist Samuele Raparo. In the glow of these mushrooms, with a sculpture of a woman turned butterfly (unpictured) directly opposite you, you’re asked to “let your thoughts and emotions and ideas flow as freely as the path around you…What are you thinking? Tell us.” Viewers are then asked to share their thoughts, with a marker and paper available to write down reflections.

Once walking through this, Jeru Nomi (@jeru.nomi) invited us to take part in her collaborative paint-by-color mural. Visitors young and old, human and animal picked up a paintbrush—or left paw prints where able! Even though I’m no visual artist myself, Jeru made participating easy.

*Jeru Nomi (@jeru.nomi) and participants at work on “The Bevy.”*

*Poppy the dog looking at her creation (can you see her prints?)*

The entire exhibition felt fantastical. Fairy-like dancers dressed in green with pointy elf ears flitted around, interacting with visitors and passing a glass sphere over their bodies. They invited us to go outside. These performers had something else in store for us—dancing with fire.

This time of year, London is quite chilly, and this night was no exception. As the dancers who I’d seen as delicate threw blazing hoops into the sky and swung balls of fire around their bodies, without fear, I was reminded of the strength of nature in its femininity. For all its fragility, there is resilience—it is our interactions with it that bring out its power. Passersby joined our circle, clapping along and cheering through technical difficulties, cheering even more once the music came back on.

*A performer dancing with fire. (Photo Credit*)

After their performance, we went back indoors to continue the night with dancing and music, surrounded by the imaginative world WOM had created for us, and with us. I left the night with lavender paint on my hands (where it would stay on my nails for the next few days), reminded of nature’s many faces and struck by the power of art to create new connections between us and the natural world. The whimsy throughout the show’s pieces asks us to expand our imagination, with the art facilitating new visions of the natural world. This, combined with the femininity apparent in all its pieces, helps viewers engage with ideas of nature and womanhood as delicate, strong, whimsical, serious, temporal, permanent—shared opposites that reflect just how much we are intertwined.

‘Rooted’ marks the end of WOM Collective’s time as FUSEBOX’s Community in Residence. Curated by LeSpleen, it runs until November 16th, and it is absolutely a must-see. Thank you to WOM Collective for a thought-provoking adventure! To keep up with WOM’s work (and find out about future Paint Jams) follow WOM on Instagram: @womcollective.