Reclaimed/discarded materials and objects: found steel, copper, rope, paper, plant fibres/roots, wood, insects, fur, hair, twine, wires, grasses, bones, seaweed, pondweed, nest, scrim, aluminium, sisal, wool, feathers, rusted paper, and botanically hand-dyed fabric
210 (h) x 165 (w) x 130cms (d)
2023
‘Fungal networks lace woodland soil… Vascular systems of forest wisdom…’ (Robert Macfarlane, 'Underland')
Above and Below is made of materials collected over years on walks, each with a story. Some were gleaned at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, where it was exhibited in the Gallery, others from an ACE DYCP funded research trip to my birthplace in Kenya.
The work is a response to the entanglements and cycles of life that make up the strata we walk on. Vertical lines of reclaimed steel and copper forge through layered horizontal substrates, interconnected and entangled.
It speaks about the continuous transformation of matter, and alliances between living forms. Intersecting roots, rhizomic systems, strata, fragile, delicate edges, in a process of becoming.. ‘frothing and tangling and fusing.. layering and layering and layering’ (Merlin Sheldrake).
Solo show at Create@#8, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, 2023
Photo by Russell Sach
Photo by Russell Sach
Photo by Russell Sach
Photo by Russell Sach
Photo by Russell Sach
Photo by Susie Olzak
On show at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens Gallery, part of Wander_Land with Royal Society of Sculptors members, 2023
Photo by Russell Sach
Photo by Seamus Moran
Photo by Seamus Moran