Dr Chloe Asker (they/them)

I am an queer and neurodivergent academic researcher and creative health facilitator, with a background in human geography and interdisciplinary health research. Since finishing my PhD in 2022, I have worked across several research projects within the disciplines of health geography, social science and medicine, public health, arts and health, and allied fields. I currently work in the European Centre of Environment and Human Health with Professor Conny Guell on the Evaluating Coastal Rural Communities’ Active and Sustainable Travel: COAST project.

Collaboration is an important part of my academic praxis. I have worked with universities (University of Exeter, University of Arts London, McMaster University, University of Surrey, and the Paul Mellon Centre), art and cultural institutions (Queer Circle, Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, Arts and Culture Exeter, Exeter Phoenix) and third-sector (Culture&, Birmingham LGBT, National Activity Providers Association, Arts4Dementia) organisations across the UK and internationally.

Queer creative health 

My creative health facilitation practice grew out of an interest in the relationship between creative practice and wellbeing, which was informed by personal experiences of the benefits of mindful arts and craft activities. My academic background cultivated a framework for creative practice, germinating from an interest in feminist, participatory action research (PAR), and creative and arts-based methodologies in the social sciences and humanities. During my PhD, I worked with creative research methods (including zine-ing, body mapping and mindfulness-based art therapy) to explore the therapeutic uses and cultures of mindfulness. Participatory and community-based arts are integral to my practice alongside working with marginalised or under-represented communities, such as the Queer community, those experiencing shame and/or trauma, and people with mental health conditions/neurodiversity. I have worked with the ‘Section 28 and its Afterlives’ research project at the University of Exeter, holding a series of creative workshops (using collage) that explored and responded to historical material from the time. We will be exhibiting artwork from the project at the Out There Festival in Exeter during October 2024.