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Nymphaea Alba is a film produced by Yvette Bathgate, filmed
and edited by Abby Quick, with Aymee Charlton as costume
designer and David Henderson creating an original score.
The project was born out of an ongoing dialogue between
Yvette and dancer Elizabeth Schilling.

The narrative of the project began with themes of body
politics and girlhood, alienation and phenomenology, over time
unfolding into something other.

Aliens took the shape of water plants, with elements of the
selkie myth embedded in amongst other folkloric tales of the
sea.

Sometimes playful and erratic, tensions are built up and
released in Elizabeth’s improvised gestures and movements as
she transforms into the shape of a woman from a creature of
the sea.

The filming took place in one day, between the cliffs of
Arbroath and the Harlaw playing fields in Aberdeen.

Much like the way that Elizabeth responded to the hidden
energies of the rocks, the sound was developed in response to
the film by David Henderson, who also grew up in Arbroath.
Working with organic timings and velocities within a DAW, he is
sensitive to the relationship between listener and experience.

This is reflected in the attention to the undercurrents of
moving between different keys and modes.

“I move to A Locrian in the middle of this work. I specifically
use this during a period where both light and dark shots are
used in quick succession. I love the sound of the Locrian mode
- always uncertain, never able to return home fully.”

Screened:
- Uus Rada, Tallinn, November 2023
- The Anantomy Rooms, Aberdeen, November 2021