Contradiction and Harmony Neither plant nor animal, seaweed is full of contradictions. It is simultaneously fragile and resilient, delicate yet strong, sometimes beautiful and other times repulsive. In minutes it can transform from dry and brittle to soft and supple. It supports life but can also destroy it.
Everyday and Extraordinary Beached seaweed is common and often overlooked. By presenting it in a new context, I give it new aesthetic value. Underpinning my approach is the Wabi Sabi aesthetic, the Japanese philosophy which accepts transience and embraces imperfection. All the materials continue to be responsive to the atmosphere, a reminder of impermanence and constant change, or the 'eternal now' a phrase used by Japanese philosopher, Kitaro Nishida.
The Mighty Voice My approach is not about control but to 'let the material speak with its own mighty voice’ - a principle of the Gutai Group, a radical group of Japanese artists in the 1950s. Like them, I aim to maximise the agency of materials - in this case, seaweed. I am guided by form, colour and texture while retaining its essential characteristics. At the same de-centering the human: we need the sea - it does not need us.
Entanglement Combining the man-made with the organic creates a dynamic highlighting the inter-dependency between the materials, push and pull, tension and harmony, contrasts and similarities, opposition and collaboration. Allowing the works to be turned invites the viewer to interact by changing the choosing the position of each piece. The mirror offers an additional perspective on the shapes and spaces in between.
Key influences Philosophers: Whitehead, Bergson, Haraway, Barad, Tsing and Saito. Art Approaches: Gutai Group, Mono Ha, Wabi Sabi. Sculptors: Andy Goldsworthy, Lee Ufan.
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